Social Media Seduce When They Should INduce

Today’s social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MyPage), or “SM,” are being touted as the newest and possibly most important tools in the communications chest of public relations, marketing and advertising people. And to an extent, they are.

But … much like communications consultants who rely on measurement of column inches or minutes of air time, SM advocates are being shallow strategists if they are seduced by social media’s technology. Counting the exposures (e.g. Facebook friends list, Twitter followers) does not prove successful strategic communication.

Social media are tools that do not replace sound strategic thinking. It’s not HOW you communicate, but WHY you communicate that’s important. The real test of one’s efforts is not that you’ve tweeted or posted a message on your Facebook page, but that someone DID something when you wanted them to, because of it.

There are those who argue that education is paramount in business and organizational communication. This is short-sighted thinking. Educating someone is not the important thing. In and of itself, education doesn’t do much. However, persuading your audience to do something BECAUSE of what you’ve taught them is the most important thing.

Hammers, nails, other tools and equipment, and materials are important if you want to build a house. That’s what social media are. But you need building plans to build a house. That’s strategy. You can’t build a house without building plans, and you can’t have successful social media without a communications strategy.

Eschew the “what” and “how,” and focus on the “why.” Identify exactly who it is you want to influence. Set specific goals and objectives in your social media plan, and then take steps to measure how far you’ve come to reach them.

Don’t count attempts, but measure results and how much you got people to do what you want them to do.

Make your social media INduce your audience to do something.

And that’s what I have to say … about THAT.