Have you noticed it’s getting harder to generate meaningful responses and take part in active “real time” conversations on social media platforms? I have and I know many others who experience the same issue which is why I think we need to put the “Social” back into social media marketing. In my view one of the root causes of this trend away from network engagement is the application of tools to assist in posting multiple messages and scheduling content broadcasts.
For this I have a confession, I’m guilty as charged. I occasionally schedule posts using a very well-known and popular application and yes I get a sense of relief and satisfaction knowing that I’ve organised myself and my business. It’s planning ahead and that’s good isn’t it?
In the strictest sense of business management yes, it’s good to be organised, but what have I actually done by scheduling tweets and G+ updates and sharing blog content at times when I’ll be very busy with other matters?
I’ll tell you what I’ve done…I’ve removed myself from the core principle of social media…engagement. Of course I have alerts set up on tablet and phone so if one of the automated tweets receives a favourite, re-tweet or mention in any way I will have an immediate notification. Despite the efforts to acknowledge and have an interaction with followers it’s still only a reactive response to my own content and not a supportive comment or conversation based upon my networks very current posts.
I do still take time to post personal messages and support others on-line but if I’m being brutally honest I’m not doing enough.
Too many social media users have lost focus on the “social” and become more obsessed with simply broadcasting. Marketing teams are schooled in how best to push the message through these new channels and only a few companies are really engaging with customers and their networks. The best examples of making social media work in large organisations is having teams readily accessing channels to pick up on comment, complaint and feedback. That’s listen mode ahead of broadcast mode.
As a marketer I do see social media platforms as communication channels but they are not the same as TV and radio they are uniquely designed for personal engagement. Creating campaigns to deliver sales messages over and over again interspersed with the occasional useful content is not going to impress many in your network.
Social media has evolved and for many it still performs and delivers but it’s worth taking a step back and giving your current strategy a little “Spring clean”.
I for one will be turning down the auto tweets and returning to the fundamental foundation of the medium. Listening first, learning about others and encouraging positive engagement. The best advice I can give is to place yourself in the position of one of your network members and try see how you appear in their timeline. If you come across as one of those annoying spam phone calls that’s pre-recorded and doesn’t allow you to respond it’s time to re-think your approach.
One shining light in the social media tunnel is the introduction of interest, profession, sector or location based groups who meet on-line at specific times and share a hash-tag # to help bring everyone into view. Here people can and do actively engage in the moment and enjoy the virtual networking experience that can prove so very useful and motivational.
Above all you get far greater rewards from real-time engagement it just takes a little more investment in time and effort. No one is expecting you to “camp out” on twitter or permanently “latch on” on to LinkedIn. Set yourself a sensible time schedule, assess when others are also on-line and start listening. Find out which groups that interest you are already “hanging out” at specific times.
I’m looking forward to putting the emphasis back to where it belongs on social media sites and having some fun while I’m doing it. If you have a story to share please feel free to post a comment, I’d love to hear from you.
David Laud
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