After a few months of working with a client, I’ve noticed a hard nosed kamakazi dive into social media by some of the employees there. Numerous emails were sent out alongside meeting requests that bubbled with excitement over this new found gold, “social media.” It’s not that new. However, despite my questions towards strategy, implementation, target market, budget allocations and the like, we all were whisked away into a board room to find out how Twitter works and how we all should be Twittering about the company.
I asked about corporate guidelines regarding what should and shouldn’t be said online, and the reply was … (cricket chirp). I thought to myself, “Yes, victory! Now they’ll listen to the person they hired to do this work!” – NOPE. Soon after my self-imposed victory another email went out about another “new social media avenue,” LinkedIn. We haven’t got a clue what we’re doing with Twitter yet.
I realize this is a ramble, but my point is coming, I promise.
This issue of social addiction got me thinking, how many other companies are out there thinking people like them? Just because you’re out there Twittering about your breakfast this morning doesn’t mean you’ll get more sales. That type of rambling doesn’t even attempt to strengthen awareness or the reputation of the brand. Do you agree? My thoughts were, “Hey, let’s get one thing working before we start down the other path,” right? Wrong, we’re already spreading the news of our Chorizo Sausage – Chile Verde Breakfast Burrito to the LinkedIn crowd as well. WTF? Apparently, that burrito was damn good. Where does this lead us? Do people really want to hear about what the VP of Hashtags ate for breakfast?
If you’re still reading I applaud you.
To my point: Where do the boundaries lie in social media for corporate entities? How many social networks do corporations need to be included in before they dilute their efforts and/or cannibalize their current social participants? Lastly, is there a breakfast guideline for Twitter users that I’m not aware of?
