Social Media is not about Technology

Technology Then & Now Courtesy of Ilovebutter and Creativecommons.org

One of the benefits of being a Social Media Marketing Company is that the job is not geo-tagged to any specific location. So I get to travel and talk about stuff that I enjoy. Recently I was in Seattle speaking to a Group of Professionals in Seattle, and then traveled to Orlando where I spoke to a Management Training Seminar and attended the National Association of REALTORS meetings.

In all three venues Social Media marketing was a hot topic.  But as I spoke to individuals and companies that wanted to engage in the social media world I noticed that many of them had the same solution. Let the designated tech guy in the company handle the social media strategy. In fact in a couple of instances, as I was speaking to the marketing person or the owner of the company, they called the technology person over to engage in the conversation. Now don’t get me wrong, I love technology. If it has a plug or a battery, I probably own it or want to own it. I consider myself something of an entry level Geek- after all I own PC and Mac laptops – but I am not the kind of Uber-Geek that actually knows real deep stuff about programming in three different languages, and I would certainly never be hired by a major company to oversee their technology interests. And frankly, for the most part, these people were not the people that I would think should be in charge of a marketing program.

Though Social Media obviously uses technology to communicate, the technology should not be the focus of any new entrant to social networking. I think if you can read, and write a coherent business letter or compose a well written email, you have the skills you need to interact in the Web 2.0 world.  In fact, I have friends who believe that they are not great writers, but are accomplished Bloggers because they love to take photos, or use their flip videos, or their laptop cameras to post their thoughts and enhance their on-line identities and reputations.  The method of communication may be different today, but the focus should still be on the communication and not the technology.

In my experience Social Media is about generating content  and engaging others. When you twitter, know one knows how big your computer is, or cares how cool your phone is (though I can see what app you use to post – and I know if you have an IPhone- making me jealous) They care about what you say. When you post a photo from your phone it can have as much impact as a high quality photo taken by a professional quality camera, and your blogging platform (Blogger, Word-press, Type-pad, etc,) is not as important as what you say in your blog. Therefore the decision to implement a social media strategy or engage potential hires or clients through social networking or new media should be based upon your ability to create content and engage your potential audience, and the person to implement that is the person who you would choose to be your voice, or the voice of your company. 

So for companies who are investigating this new method of engaging with potential customers, think about communication, not technology. Consult with the person in your company who can articulate your company mission and goals the best. See how they would engage  – through the written word, photos, videos, or a combination of all three. Would they prefer to blog, twitter, or use podcasts to generate content? Don’t worry about their technological proficiency. After all, I bet you know more than a few good drivers  who can’t change (or even find) the oil filter in their car?

Go out an engage. Be genuine, Be consistent, and have fun. The results you want will follow.

Tags: Blog, National Association of REALTORS, New media, Orlando Florida, real estate, Social Media, Social network service, Web 2.0