Tacking on a 2nd and 3rd Floor to Jason Baer's starter house..I mean initial blog post... 6 Dangerous Fallacies of Social Media, I give you the 12 Massive Oversights of Social Media (nod your head at will).
It would appear both the aloof corporate types and the social media zealots in their distracted apathy and/or super-enthusiasm have attributed social media with traits it simply does not have:
1) Social media is the end game- social media is a tactic, an underappreciated one at that, but one of a number of tactics that build community, get your product noticed and talked about, and exchange insight...use it as part of the mix, but keep it in perspective
2) Social Media is Facebook- admittedly tough to persuade someone convinced of the importance of reach that Facebook is only part of the equation, keep three things to keep in mind: a) the social net landscape shifts quickly, Facebook is one move away from being next year's Friendster, b) the early adopters have already moved on to things like Twitter and c) you can create better customer engagement on your own social media
3) Social media is a fad- you would be in the minority to believe this (66% of execs believe it will have big future impact) and since all the new digital natives have grown up with it, their collaborative and social hard wiring is likely to continue - did you realize Obama raised $460 million principally through expert, well-tentacled digital and social media..those aren't bad apples
4) Social Media should be well planned - this may be a big pill to swallow but there doesn't need to be a sub-committee and strategic plan drawn up here - it's the internet - as long as you have guidelines, executive buy-in, some good outside advice, a guiding objective, dedicated staffing, a good template, your social media efforts can and should start in hours
5) Social Media Drives Exposure and Awareness- apples to apples, TV, Outdoor and Radio likely drive more awareness than social media, however, the creation of powerful, long-standing relationships with your biggest enthusiasts, fans, influencers critics and experts is optimally driven by social media
6) Social Media is Frugal- yes, social media is comparatively less expensive than the $250-300k Tv ad production and minimum threshold $1.5 million national media spend (Canadian benchmarks) ...but c'mon, true engagement and experience has a price tag too - creating immersive customer experiences and building a human host for dialogue needs investment too, I would call social media value-conscious not cheap
7) Social Media is Quick Relief - true, there are occasions where social media can churn out the instant buzz but it's much more effectively used as a rallying forum with a 2-3 year life span of advocacy, content, insight and support, before confronting the challenges of stale-dated content and technology
8) Social Media is Avoidable- consider this ...someone who is 18-24 will consume half of their media as user-generated not company-generated- these millenials are your new influencers, customers and employees - just try to avoid them, never mind that by now your industry leader is dabbling in social media - face it, like a bad toothache or a present you're saving to be opened, you need to learn this stuff NOW
9) Social Media is a Panacea- I don't know when we acquiesced to the social media Gods but having a good, well-differentiated product, a likable, well-storied brand, a solid business model and a positive customer experience at every touchpoint is still the name of the game - social media is the additive in your fuel tank that makes your car run cleaner, faster, longer not the engine and chassis
10) Social Media is Predictable- although many levels above witch doctory, social media is still prone to the variables of context, competitive environment, participants and content, but at least you can track it - now can someone tell me, how many people were moved to act based on your last ad campaign...crickets...birds chirping....the din of fluorescent lighting...thought not!
11) Social Media is a Media- I'm inclined to think of it more as a culture, the term "media" underutilizes and cheapens it - social media is an approach that organizations can use to get closer to their customers through transparency, authenticity, dialogue and collaboration..whether it's a blog, podcast, social net, wiki, widget, app or group is quite ancillary
12) Social Media is Technology - this is a fool's game --social media needs to be the responsibility of the person closest to the customer - I'd advocate customer service to be the leaders in a company if they were set up to it - whether it's your exec, marketers, PR people, HR people or sales people - ensure you wrestle the wheel back from your IT folks...they are great at what they do, customer engagement is usually not one of their trademark strengths
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