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  • The Social Media Tapestry

  • When social media became the new rage of marketing a few years back so many people saw it as the new holy grail.  In reality, this happens every few years as the new and the exciting takes over the imagination of the media who drive it incessantly until something newer and more exciting arrives and we follow that holy grail till it becomes passe.

    And so, each new innovation does not disappear, it just fades into neutral and finds its rightful place in our environment, usually taking on a meaningful role that is appropriate under different circumstances for different people and organizations.

    What is different today is that the speed of change has made these new innovations come and go so quickly that we only really see where they fit long after the settling process has already taken place.

    Take social media as we thought we knew it two years ago as the perfect example.  In just 2 or 3 years it has become so prolific that no one can really benefit from it as it was originally envisioned – as a marketing tool that will help to generate business.  Already, it has morphed so significantly that people from all areas of business cannot identify what the best use of social media is and where it should reside in the business structure.  Is it in marketing? In sales? In customer service? In IT? In PR?  In HR? In R&D?  In reality, its home is where the application suits YOUR specific circumstances.

    Well, the truth of the matter is that social is simply a method of communication – it has transcended marketing as a one-way means of pushing out information into the market and hoping that it either drives traffic or business.  It is a discussion.  It is research.  It is dialogue.  It is all those things that become crucial in understanding the needs that your company has to satisfy.  In fact, it has become a tapestry of excitement and variation whose true value is in the eyes of the beholder – the more creative you are the more value it will represent.

    I heard an interview recently where one marketer compared social media to the Internet.  That it will become part of our fabric of life and that each person or business will make use of it for different reasons and in different ways.  Its past as a single-minded tool of marketing is behind us.  Embrace it and find a way of using it as a dialogue with those that are most important to you.  Don’t see it as a business generator – if that’s the only perspective you have of it you are missing the point and will undoubtedly be disappointed with the results.

    Mold it to your needs.  Like the Internet it will continue to morph into something new and exciting as each day goes by and embrace the opportunity it presents – for tomorrow it will surprise you once more!

    Neville Pokroy consults in the areas of strategic marketing planning, as well as in the development and execution of marketing strategies and plans. He assists companies who require marketing expertise to plan and fully execute marketing programs.   He helps them make good choices, particularly with regard to the emerging technologies.  If you want to have more choice in marketing your business, set yourself apart, and increase the odds of generating additional revenue for your business, call (905)886-2235, email: neville@mastermindsolutions.ca or visit our website.  Please follow me on Twitter: @smaaketer