There are plenty of people who think that the world is divided into two groups. Those who do social media right, and those who don’t. If that’s your way of thinking, then you’re probably not ready for the new world that social media is creating.

It’s not black and white, and it never will be, because social media is developing into a great big fat umbrella that covers a lot of “stuff”. Just like content marketing has a lot of mecha to it, so does social media.

Have a roundtable discussion with other people in your corporate office or social circle about what social media is.

• You’ll be talking tactics, and they start talking strategies
• You start talking about input, they start running on about outcomes
• You bring up the use of social media for the sake of being social, they’re wondering how the use of it will lead toward meeting financial goals.

If you’re bull headed on certain tactics or tools or a particular network (Twitter, Facebookm etc) then you should be expected to talk about how your presence in those networks relates to the individuals using them. What service are you providing (if any) and what kind of customer experience you expect to generate from your brand.

Nestle had fun with this recently, as their facebook page was ground zero for some recent controversy and now the Arizona board of tourism is suffering the same “Doh!”. Is it though? Was this part of their strategy or the result of not having one?

That’s an unanswerable question really.

If your answer though is to just “Be Human” then you should probably recognize that social media is about more than just being human. If that’s your only strategy then you’re screwed, because I know a lot of humans that piss off other humans pretty regularly by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

“Being human” is going to mean different things to different people, and it shouldn’t be the sole answer to your marketing woes… or the framework for a strategy. Be ready to flesh that out into something real and effective.

Is it time to play with buzzwords yet? I love buzzwords, like

• Engagement
• Authenticity
• Transparency
• Rapport
• “Quality”

Quality is one of my favorites, because what I call quality someone else calls garbage. This reminds me of a quote from the movie Tommyboy

“Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time.”

People have a skewed concept of what quality is. Quality, by itself, means nothing. You need to start delivering something that’s entertaining, valuable and informative.
If you’re relying on buzzwords alone to communicate your strategy then you should probably dig deeper so you can explain how these approaches translate to real experience. That might seem a little obvious to some but it’s the truth. Not everyone lives inside your head. Likewise, not everyone has the ability to solve differential equations on the fly or carries with them the superhuman power of knowing when to use affect and effect.

Your ability to effectively communicate the concept of the social web and how it relates to business could make or break a business deal. Remember this isn’t about impressing or flexing your muscles to show how much you know about social media. Assume that people who are on the outside looking in don’t know a thing about what you’re talking about.

After all, if everyone else knew what you know then you and your position wouldn’t be necessary.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot that you and those around you can benefit from when you take the stance of being a social media evangelist. A strategic and educational approach with those you work with, or network with, will go much farther in convincing your employer or potential clients that you’ve got the skills they need in order to brand them in social media.

If handled wrong, you’re just speaking in tongues.

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