Truth is, some companies aren’t going to ever become a Social Business and may never succeed in Social Media. Quite frankly, maybe some companies just don’t belong on Social Media. Here’s why?
They’re not going to succeed because they don’t “get it”
That’s the BIGGEST reason.
Not only DON’T they “get it,”they think they DO “get it.”
- I’ve seen what they do and I can tell that it’s not a match for what they want to accomplish, but they keep doing it.
- I’ve seen how much they want to talk, but how little they care to listen.
- I can tell they don’t know who their audience is, or what’s important to them. They’ve clearly never bothered to test the assumptions.
- I can tell that they haven’t planned a damn thing and are flying by the seat of their “I’ve-Got-To-Do-This-Because-Everyone-Says-Social-Media-Is-Important” pants. Yet, results be damned, they are content to keep doing it, rather than employ a professional.
- And once I’ve realized all of that, I can guarantee that they aren’t measuring anything of value, so they will remain in the dark, wondering if anything they are doing is even working at all. I’ll bet they know how many followers they have though…that should keep the lights on.
All of this is fine by me, because most of the time, it also means that they won’t see the value in hiring a Social Business Agency.
Yet I’m frustrated.
I’m frustrated because I have talked to too many people who just want the easy answer. I’m frustrated because too many don’t want to “get it,” they just want the magic bullet.
I’m frustrated because I’ve put it down on paper and showed exactly why they should do something. I’ve attached numbers and metrics to it. I’ve clearly demonstrated the ROI.
So what’s the problem
The problem is what I’m recommending takes actual work. The kind of work that most people aren’t used to: empathy, soft skills, real connection with another human being. It takes the time to engage another person, get to know them, appreciate them as people and be curious about their perspective. THAT is the biggest problem in Social Media right now and I just don’t know how to overcome it. I see too many people talking and not enough people listening and it’s starting to piss me off.
How can I be so sure?
I had numerous opportunities in 2011. All of them have come by way of referral. At some point I expect to start “pounding the pavement” or “hitting the phone” or whatever. So far however, it’s not been the case.
I have been using Twitter to carry on conversation, in public. I sometimes initiate the conversation with content that I’ve found, sometimes with content I’ve created, and sometimes just because I missed talking to someone. I’ve jumped into conversations that were happening on Google+, Twitter and Facebook. I’ve met some amazing people via the comments on my blog. And after all of these conversations, I’ve arrived at a point where many of those in my network will immediately think if me when someone says “Social” and they pass my name along. I’m sincerely grateful for this.
I’ve made friends that I first met online. I’ve helped people without thinking about how I will benefit and I’ve been rewarded with referrals. I have {gasp} spent time wishing people well on bad days and promoting their work when they publish. I’ve done all of this, not to get something, but to give something. Some look at that as a waste of time, to me, that’s what this is all about.
While I don’t expect that my experience will map to every person or company, I firmly believe that there is an obvious value in my approach to creating relationships by engaging people directly in conversation and getting to know them. In some cases it simply results in those individuals being more attentive to my social media activity or sharing my content, in other cases it generates leads and sometimes I find that I just met a nice person.
Truth is…I know my approach, I have my strategy and I’m getting my results.
So why isn’t it working for “them?”
It’s not working for them because they don’t care. They don’t care enough about what their customers have to say. They don’t care to own the negative reviews and respond. They don’t care about challenging their own assumptions about what is important to the customer. They don’t care enough to plan what they are going to do and they damn sure aren’t sure why they are going to do something.
The truth is they want this to be easy.
