It’s Summer, and in that vein, I have some lighter reading for you today. If you’re like me, you try to slow down a notch – take off early on Fridays (or take them off altogether), and indulge in that Summer reading list, a little lighter fare than you might normally treat yourself too. Today, I want to talk about social media, choosing what’s right for you, and doing our best not to impose our judgements on others.
I am not a fan of Twitter, in fact, I find it to be a wasteland of engagement. I know it’s very un-marketing of me much like my dislike of Coca-Cola is very un-American, said my French family during my junior year abroad in Paris.
To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t even be on Twitter but it’s practically required in my profession. I’ve been criticized for it and I know many assess a person by checking their Twitter profile before anything else. I don’t fault anyone for that. We all have our biases when judging others. I’m equally guilty of it, especially if I see you with a bottle of Yellow Tail Chardonnay on your table. I more than likely can’t hang out with you and we haven’t even said “hi.”
Given the myriad choices we have these days to connect with our people, I don’t subscribe to the idea that you “must” be anywhere. As in anything, you get out of something what you put into it. If I wanted to spend more time on Twitter, I’m sure I’d reap more benefit. Instead, I find the limited time I allocate to social better spent on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram. Why? Because I like what I’ve built there. I have community who interact with me; I get new connections and relationships; I find answers to my questions; and I get business from it. In other words, I achieve my goals with the resources (both time and money) I’m able to allocate.
That’s how it works. And it’s how we advise clients. In order to get discovered by your audience and eventually to initiate a purchase, there is a hell of a lot more than “being on Twitter.” There are many moving parts and we assemble them based on many factors.
We need to make sure you’re telling the right story then decide where it gets told from website content to media outreach, to email marketing (to name only a few), all depending on the audience, sales funnel and purchase path. And prioritizing based on the amount of human and financial resources available. Hey – we’d all love to be everywhere but it’s just not possible.
An important factor beyond audience, purchase path and resources is “fit.” If I sense hesitation or concern about an outlet, I know it’s not going to work. There has to be a willingness to throw ourselves into these things because, as we all know, half-assed efforts get you nowhere. Building anything akin to community takes more than creating a Twitter profile and broadcasting away; it takes dedication and perseverance. All too often, I see people being disappointed by this and then, like me, finding Twitter to be a wasteland of engagement. Meanwhile, you have choices now, so don’t fret.
Perhaps my bias of Twitter is unorthodox. I know many, if not most of you will vehemently disagree and I welcome that. Inherently, you are right if I were willing to invest my time and get what needs to be done there.
But this is a week where decisions, all the way up to the Supreme Court, have been made that make room for personal preference, lifestyle and the ability to choose our own path. I love the idea that we can all have opinions and think very differently, and not impose our thoughts and judgements on others. Wink.
Speaking of telling a better story – if your organization is struggling with content development that achieves your business goals, this workshop I’m offering specifically for your business, might help. [hs_action id=”3247″] [ssba]
I am honestly torn on how I look at Twitter. On one hand, it has allowed me to speak with people who I would never have encountered in my immediate vicinity. And I love Twitter for that.
But the other part of me is aghast at what certain brands and users have turned it into; more of a megaphone for shouting what they or their company is doing, rather than trying to engage in constructive conversations.
I think there will be douches wherever you go. 🙂 and each channel gets destroyed by brands who don’t get it. And I do agree there have been times when Twitter is great – when i’m at conferences, I really like it. It lets you meet people who are there, interact, etc. It’s just not my go-to. ya know?
I feel you. It’s the quickest way to interact, I’ve found, but I am starting to notice less and less activity. It’s sad because I still love it. (Or, I want to love it.)
I lost my love affair with Twitter a couple of years back. I’ll still pop in there, and it’s still the #1 social referral platform for my blog. But it’s less fun now, and I’m finding way better conversations elsewhere.
Besides, my blog is where everything is targeted to and from. Anywhere else is just a spoke.
I thought you would have disagreed with me on this – interesting. It can’t be ignored, that Twitter, but it doesn’t mean we have to like it! 🙂
I agree with Danny – I fell out of love with Twitter a long time ago, when I noticed that many of the people who follow me also follow many hundreds, if not thousands, of others…..how can my message possibly even be heard when I have something to say? Unless I repeat myself over and over again (as I’ve seen others do), which is just really annoying to many people.
I do still use it to engage when people have questions or I have something really great to share, but for the most part I pretty much ignore it these days. Unless someone is willing to pay me to analyze blogs, I no longer even respond to the multitude of requests I get from strangers who Tweet me to “please come look at my blog”……Like I have nothing at all better to do with my time.
That’s the thing – I follow thousands of people but if they aren’t in one of my lists, I never see them. I never look at my “firehose” AKA the full stream.