If you ask someone in the social media space what they consider to be the most important factor in a social media strategy they will usually say “listening” (or perhaps transparency/etc.) I cringe when I hear people say this especially the “experts.” To me, saying that listening is the most important factor of a social media strategy is like saying that your title tags are the most important factor in SEO. Sure the title tags are given more weight then many other variables, but if you just go around changing your title tags while ignoring everything else, chances are you won’t get very far, the same is true for social media.
Listening is important but I think if we are to look at successful strategies we need to get past breaking down individual variables. Social media as a whole is about connections, interactions, relationships, sharing information etc. Listening starts off the process but if you just listen, you are going to fail with your social media strategy. Sure listening is great, but then what? If you listen but don’t act do you think your strategy is going to succeed? No
The point of all of this is to get people to start thinking about social media (and perhaps SEO) differently. When someone says what is the most important factor for a successful social media strategy it really doesn’t make sense. Social media IS a strategy in and of itself and in order to succeed you should not be thinking about “the most important factors.” They are all the most important factors and they are all interconnected. By saying “what are the most important factors” you are already making your social media strategy less effective. Think about it, are you really going to go after some of the factors and not the others? If I say that listening, being transparent, and authenticity are the most important things to go after are you going to ignore acting on feedback, encouraging discussion, rewarding users, etc? I would hope not.
So, what do I think is the most important factor in a social media strategy? Social Media
Do you agree or disagree and why?
thanks for reading
To me, the single most important factor in any social media discussion is, well, the discussion. The reciprocal conversation. The community. It starts with people talking, followed by others listening, and continued with back-and-forth interactive dialogue.
Great points, Jacob.
You hit the nail on the head when you used the words “social media is the most important factor in a social media strategy.”
While I'm all for listening (after all, that's how we improve – take advice from those more knowledgeable and make it our own), it has to be both ways. No-one is the ultimate expert on anything. Game designers are shown flaws by game testers; musicians find a new note from an amateur player; stockbrokers lose millions through a simple mistake.
Social media in particular is still a relatively new format – we're all still learning together. However, make sure you have a message to share as well – otherwise, as much as listening is important, no-one will listen to you. Why should they? You have nothing to say…
Cheers for an enjoyable read!
I agree on most parts..
Listening definitely isn't enough, just like the term “social” already indicates. It has to be a 2-way communication process. Conversation is therefore a better word.
I also agree that everything in your SM strategy has to be interconnected, just like it has to be a part of the bigger marketing (communication) plan. But there definitely are some parts that are of more importance than others..
i.e.: the basis for your strategy: who do we want to reach / why do we want to reach them / how can we reach them, … This is the cornerstone/fundation of your entire strategy and is hence the most important part.
What do you think?
http://twitter.com/Adgenius
If your purpose in engaging in social media is business, you have to follow the same rules you would use in real life. You market yourself, you network, you research, you provide great customer experience, you prospect, you connect.
If I over hype my products/services I get the same negative reaction in real life as I would online. If I pay attention to what prospects are looking for online it helps me just as it would in real life.
My social media strategy is to look for people who are interesting/smart and listen, learn, participate, engage with them. Some will become mentors, some allies, some customers, some friends.
And it's been fun.
I feel interaction with a community and the act of building a community is what Social Media really is. To just listen is not building anything and to just talk is not helping. To Not have any interaction with anyone is Spamming..so there has to be a balance in offering something of value to a community and then interacting with those in the community to really be considered offering Social Media.
hello hello ari!
of course discussions are important as well. the distinction i was trying to make was that all the factors that make up “social media” are important, and by focusing on just some of the factors you are cutting yourself short. thanks for the comment!
thank you very much. im trying to get people to understand that social media is the most important factor in a social media strategy. people keep breaking things up into variables and factors and it just doesn't work that way. we're dealing with people not mathematical equations!
thanks for reading and commenting danny, hope to hear more from you!
Hi Rob,
it's tough for me to say that there are more important things than others because even if the basis of your strategy is 100%; if you execute poorly or don't respond to users you will fail. i think there is a certain weight distribution but i also think that depends on the industry/clients/goals/etc. it will be different for everyone. i see what you mean though but these are all qualitative measures. to me trying to pick the most important variable is like trying to figure out the roi for social media or the “best comment”
thanks for reading and commenting!
hi julie,
you definitely have to follow the same rules you do in real life. a lot of people forget about that and it hurts them. sounds like you have a good social media strategy going for you 🙂
thanks for reading and commenting!
love the name by the way 🙂
you are absolutely correct, listening is great but JUST listening is really not going to get you that far. how you respond and act on the feedback you receive is also very important, but again, you can't have one without the other.
thanks for reading and commenting!
Type your comment here Hello there – I think the most important thing is to 'commect' – ie to connect and communicat in an emotionally engaging way – I think it's really important that we remember that social media is a form of human media…and as such there are timeless rules.
I think the key challenge is that there is little holistic understanding of Generation C yet to truly answer your question…as a result many 'experts' are making it up.
Cheers
Jake Pearce (jakepearce.com)
Too funny – I just included the word “listen” in my response to your LinkedIn question 🙂
An important factor in a Social Media strategy is to “make it easy” – easy to participate, easy to contribute thoughts and ideas, and feel valued. “Easability”?
Hi Jake,
perhaps many experts may be making stuff up, it's not unusual. but i do agree that very few people understand how to conceive and implement a holistic strategy. “human media” i like that a lot, great term to use Jake!
thanks for reading and commenting!
haha well listening is definitely a part of creating a social media strategy, but again it's one one part. great point about making it easy to participate and contribute, that is definitely important. received a lot of great responses on the linkedin question, going to be tough to narrow them all down!
thanks for reading and commenting!
hello hello ari!
of course discussions are important as well. the distinction i was trying to make was that all the factors that make up “social media” are important, and by focusing on just some of the factors you are cutting yourself short. thanks for the comment!
thank you very much. im trying to get people to understand that social media is the most important factor in a social media strategy. people keep breaking things up into variables and factors and it just doesn't work that way. we're dealing with people not mathematical equations!
thanks for reading and commenting danny, hope to hear more from you!
Hi Rob,
it's tough for me to say that there are more important things than others because even if the basis of your strategy is 100%; if you execute poorly or don't respond to users you will fail. i think there is a certain weight distribution but i also think that depends on the industry/clients/goals/etc. it will be different for everyone. i see what you mean though but these are all qualitative measures. to me trying to pick the most important variable is like trying to figure out the roi for social media or the “best comment”
thanks for reading and commenting!
hi julie,
you definitely have to follow the same rules you do in real life. a lot of people forget about that and it hurts them. sounds like you have a good social media strategy going for you 🙂
thanks for reading and commenting!
love the name by the way 🙂
you are absolutely correct, listening is great but JUST listening is really not going to get you that far. how you respond and act on the feedback you receive is also very important, but again, you can't have one without the other.
thanks for reading and commenting!
Type your comment here Hello there – I think the most important thing is to 'commect' – ie to connect and communicat in an emotionally engaging way – I think it's really important that we remember that social media is a form of human media…and as such there are timeless rules.
I think the key challenge is that there is little holistic understanding of Generation C yet to truly answer your question…as a result many 'experts' are making it up.
Cheers
Jake Pearce (jakepearce.com)
Too funny – I just included the word “listen” in my response to your LinkedIn question 🙂
An important factor in a Social Media strategy is to “make it easy” – easy to participate, easy to contribute thoughts and ideas, and feel valued. “Easability”?
Hi Jake,
perhaps many experts may be making stuff up, it's not unusual. but i do agree that very few people understand how to conceive and implement a holistic strategy. “human media” i like that a lot, great term to use Jake!
thanks for reading and commenting!
haha well listening is definitely a part of creating a social media strategy, but again it's one one part. great point about making it easy to participate and contribute, that is definitely important. received a lot of great responses on the linkedin question, going to be tough to narrow them all down!
thanks for reading and commenting!
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