New jobs are being created in the social-sphere, social strategist, social media directors, and social scientists. But what value do these experts provide your business? Does investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in to a social media strategy make sense for you? Unless you are reigning from an executive tower in corporate America, the answer is likely "no".
Social businesses undoubtedly are more prevalent today than those who have not migrated. However what does it take to become social, is it strategy? I think that social strategy dehumanizes and limits the opportunities to voice the true core of a business. Truth is, most social channels within businesses are operated by one or two people who voice their opinions for the company.
But wouldn’t it make more sense to have your whole company engage on the same Twitter and Facebook channel? This would be a truly social instance in where the business is truly exposing itself to the masses. However currently when only one skilled worker, is given a strategy and objectives it makes the whole social experience more of a PR cover up.
Humanize the Brand
The corporate façade
placed over social media is what make it boring and systematic, but when
the experience becomes personal is when you humanize a brand.
Humanizing a brand is one of the scariest things businesses can do
because you are often walking a fine line, touching topics that typical
businesses don’t talk about. Sometimes a bit of controversy can segment
your niche but don’t ever plan for controversy, just embrace it with
honesty.
Don’t Focus on Metrics
What do metrics mean?
Okay, Twitter directed 1,000 page views last week. That’s great but what
does it matter, are you going to add resources to social if you fail to
meet your metric goals? If you don’t get caught up in metrics you
aren’t de-focusing your social media efforts you are simply staying true
to what being social is all about. It is about working in a cross
functional communication network that can be used to harness and
disseminate relevant content to the masses.
Ultimately social media strategy could pigeonhole your company in to being too cautious. Limiting opportunities to humanize and capture market share for people who can see through a brand that is “too corporate.” Sharing fun relevant content is great but showing where your company’s heart is, is even more important. So that is why your company should either encourage the whole office to tweet on the same account, or leave the tweeting to the CEO.