Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of presenting to members of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce on the subject of Social Media. (I mean, really…does any one give presentations on anything else these days?) It was an edifying experience for me, and I certainly hope it was for the attendees as well.
My main message, though, is that while Social Media can be powerful, it’s not a panacea…it’s not right for every business or every situation…it’s not a stand alone solution…and it’s far from free. That echoes my belief in the power of content marketing. Social media is a channel to deliver timely, relevant, valuable information to your customers and clients. It may be the best channel for engaging on a near (apparent?) one-to-one level…but still just one channel among many options, nonetheless.
Hopefully that all comes through in the presentation, which is now posted on Slide Share and embedded below. While you can view it here, downloading it is the best option, as the speaker notes will add a lot of context. Feedback is welcome and appreciated!
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June 30th, 2010 at 12:19 am
John this is good stuff. Comprehensive and covers a lot of ground for the inexperienced person just getting started in SM, but helps people like me, who’ve been more active the last 18 months, see the bigger picture. Love the piece/section on Mobile specifically.
It’s also great that you’ve outlined clearly the fact that you must understand it’s WAY more than just showing up. A strategy to use this “tool” must be in place to get the most out of it. To be honest, I don’t have a defined strategy. Sure I have an understanding of what I want to get out of it – engaging people, tossing out as much knowledge as I can in a couple of areas I know well, and my favorite SM cliche, joining the conversation. I’m having fun doing that and getting a lot from it, but clearly I need to pick it up…..a lot. I also need to take it from a personal level and implement a more sound approach using it for business.
Anyway, very eye opening and I enjoyed viewing it. I’m sure the Raleigh Chamber got a lot from this as well.
July 12th, 2010 at 11:42 pm
I’ve been working with social media for a very long time now. It is a very good channel to communication what you indeed did mention and most of all it’s cheap. But, you did not cover any ground on how there is currently a flood of social media out there. Much like the need for product diversity, you also need social media diversity. For example, you covered blogs and how they can be a useful tool. Yet, the idea of having one blog among millions of other blogs does not make having one worth the effort for effective communications of .
It’s not that easy to hook your end users and communicate your goals in a manner that churns out decent returns. There are thousands of so called “social media experts” out there that don’t actually understand what makes social media so social.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s ideally the right steps. But, don’t forget that social media is flooded with non-unique approaches. Eventually the consumers will not want to be flooded with communications, promotions and etc much like you would not like to send your postal address to thousands of junk mail suppliers or provide your phone number to telemarketing chains for free advertisements.
Good presentation and feel free to toss me a line. I am local to your area for input!