How truly serious are you about being social?
Let’s pretend… Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn all go away due to lack of funding or revenues. What happens next?
If you are a social media consultant how will you advise your clients to continue their social media efforts? If you are a company how will you maintain your social media efforts?
Are you serious about social media enough to innovate or come up with another strategy to use social media to stay connected with your customers, prospects, employees, investors, etc.?
Seriously, have you thought about it?
[Phew! This goes on record for one of my shortest posts ever!]
Posted in marketing, public relations, social media, social networking, web 2.0 | 
Tags: Facebook, innovation, LinkedIn, relationships, social media, social relationships, Twitter
Tags: Facebook, innovation, LinkedIn, relationships, social media, social relationships, Twitter
31 Responses to “How truly serious are you about being social?”
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Beth–
Brilliant post! As usual, you’ve cut right to the heart of the issue: that it is critical to have a social media strategy that extends beyond the tools de jour.
As long as you can articulate the “why” behind your current social media strategies and tactics, can (really) identify your audiences, and understand how your existing strategies tie to your organization’s business goals, then you should be able to develop new ways to engage with your stakeholders both online and off.
Hopefully, savvy practitioners can do this now. If not, why not?
Daria Steigman´s last blog ..NETGEAR’s Winning Approach
Well I would go back to where I was pre social websites! I would still find out where my prospects were talking and find them there.
Message boards have been around for a long time and I have been active on them since at least 2001.
I would also go and find the blogs which I am still thinking are around and I would continue to listen and comment where I can. Just because the big three have disappeared does not mean everyone is on there.
Jamie Favreau´s last blog ..Can you help one person stay in Detroit?
Much like Daria said above, the key is how that strategy was planned in the first place. If it was a matter of “Let’s get you on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and go from there,” and your social media strategy *relies*on them rather than utilizes them, you’ve already set yourself (and your client) up for problems, whether or not they ever disappear.
If you’ve started with a strategy (with goals, a target audience, etc.), then you should be able to re-craft that strategy to utilize other tools that don’t get wiped out in the social mediapocalypse. As Jamie mentioned, refocusing on blogs would be a start, but it could also mean reinventing ways to make traditional media as “social” as you can make it (them). For that matter, a mix of the two would really be ideal. For example, taking a campaign and putting the http://www.BooneOakley.com spin on it by combining traditional media formats (video) with social media elements (user interaction and engagement).
I think beginning with a strategy rather than the tools would leave you able to capitalize on the remaining available possibilities if you’ve got the creativity and resilience to make it happen.
This is all after we’ve cried our tears of sorrow at the loss of Twitter and Facebook, of course.
Great question. Sorry for the novel of a comment. You just really got me thinking.
Mike Billeter´s last blog ..Box Scores: July 20-26 – Ninjutsu, conundrums and creativity…
None of the platforms actually matter except one: Your voice.
As long as you are able to have a dialogue with your customers and communicate your ideas, changes and corporate information effectively with them you are golden. It helps to apologize as well. The activation just becomes different…is it email? Is it a blog? It’s up to you…just keep the conversation going and you will be fine.
Stuart Foster´s last blog ..Looking Through Our Digital Baggage
Brilliant question and one that was posed to me very recently. Social media is not about the tools. it is about the people in your community…and the relationships and bridges you build to communicate with them online and offline. You start with a goal and objectives…an integrated approach. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Even if the funding is there for the platforms you mention above, the next question will always be what is shiny, new and next? Flitting from here to there in socmed does not work. LISTEN and grow where your community migrates.
Social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn should be used to drive customers and prospects to a platform for more intimate interaction.
Could be a website, blog, phone, a more selective social application, a place where you truly build a relevant community.
Although initial contact with customers and prospects might have to evolve without F/T/LI, a solid foundation for intimate interaction would still remain at the core of social media strategy.
Good (short) post, Beth. People should think about this more often!
I think the biggest problem that some people have is that they still don’t understand is Twitter is a “platform”. And not a marketing strategy.
Some communities merely use Twitter as a tool to be a part of a community. The community already existed.
A perfect example of this is StockTwits – http://www.stocktwits.com . Many people joined Twitter as the conduit to be part of the StockTwits community and conversation of money, trading and stocks.
If the community is solid, they will employ other “platforms” or create their own way of keeping the community intact, depending on the size of the community and/or the investment behind it.
I believe it was Steve Rubel who said “There’s no community where I am spending time today that was not born in the last five years. No community has ever had staying power.”
Just another good reason not to lock yourself and your marketing strategy into one platform.
Make the community first, choose the right tools and be true to your community.
I’m not a social media consultant 100% of the time, but I am definitely serious about making media social – even if the existing technology evaporated tomorrow! You can still build relationships *and* community (i.e., down *and* across) without a Twitter or FaceBook as a hub.
SM has given comm professionals a gift in that it proved the power of a targeted push/pull dialog with customers rather than free range push shouting. Dialog gives brands more facets and yields more comprehensive successes (duh, right?).
That proof of concept remains even without the SM technologies/vehicles we ascribe it to. As a devout “network agnostic” I advise clients to import the SM practices they find most effective across networks into their non-SN communications (even paper!).
If you’re already building that as a strategy, it will continue to stand even when you pull away the scaffold of the big, centralized SNs.
Peter´s last blog ..Why I #blamedrewscancer, pt. 3
No matter how strategically sound my thinking or how deeply authentic my customer connection was, I’d be be bummed. Not in all cases. We are now building a specialized b2g forum for a client. But when a media goes away an audience, a context, and an aggregated discussion goes away and that’s not easy to re-create. But being bummed is not an action plan, I’d do the best I can with the existing media and connections and, in mor cases, build something new.
Kevin Fenton´s last blog ..“Will you please stop shoveling dirt on me?” On the Death of Advertising
You (and Leslie’s comment) both echo something I’ve been noodling over for a little while: I think rather than lumping everything under the umbrella of “social media” we should instead call it “social platforming.” That would begin to clarify the difference between those who build social media tools, and those who wield them for business.
Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and even blogs, are platforms (and let’s not forget that platforms like WordPress and Typepad might go belly up someday too.) They are all a means to connect, same as a telephone. But my ability to dial a phone doesn’t make me a telecommunications consultant.
Getting back to your point, I think that firms claiming to offer social media “strategy” will eventually have to include a web engineering capability to appear legitimate.
Other publicly accessible social platforms have come and gone. Why not Twitter?
So smart marketing agencies will develop the ability to build dedicated, online client-hosted communities from scratch. That capability has a much higher barrier to entry than “social media consulting.” Plus, its value is much easier to quantify to prospective clients.
Dan McCarthy´s last blog ..You Land Where You Look
Once upon a time, there were these things people did to communicate with one another. They used to get together in big groups and dance, and tell stories, and eat. These things were called, interestingly enough, “socials”.
If we lost all online communication tomorrow, I’d tell my people to do what I tell them to do much of the time now: get on the phone, call people, go to where people gather and talk with them, and throw parties. Social media is a way to create relationships, but it’s not the media that’s the point, but the relationship itself. I think a lot of businesses could do much more professional socializing if they DIDN’T use Twitter and Facebook.
But I’m glad those tools are there. I wouldn’t have met Beth otherwise.
Chris Jones´s last blog ..Land of the Free, Home of the Brave?
Interesting post, as always, Beth. A couple of weeks ago I was reminiscing with a new acquaintance about Prodigy. Anyone remember Prodigy? It was the granddaddy of online services, back before we knew about the World Wide Web. You dialed in to a local number and could stay on all day for $15 a month. Prodigy had planned on people logging on to get news or sports. They hadn’t anticipated how the forums and chat rooms would trigger a desire for socialization that would tie up their phone lines and result in huge phone bills. So they started charging by the hour. People cried and howled, but in the end, they bailed rather than pay what they thought were outrageous fees. But they didn’t go offline. They moved to other services – Genie and a few others I can’t remember. Then they settled at AOL.
It’s the same now. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn may all evolve or vanish. But something new will replace it. We’re not going to go back to old style PR or Marketing. We can’t. The old media are fading. We’ll push on to the new platform, and we’ll become experts at that.
Good morning Beth,
The real value of social media is relationships – and effectively developing them. That has contributed to the success and/or failure of businesses long before social media platforms arrived and it will continue to be so. It doesn’t matter the method of connecting with people, be it face to face, phone or Internet; if you don’t effectively connect with people and build and maintain a good relationship, you won’t be in business long.
@marc_meyer sums it up in this short post here: http://directmarketingobservations.com/2009/07/27/social-media-thought-74-its-not-speed-dating/
Thanks for keeping us thinking Beth…
Mark Harai´s last blog ..Inspiring Your Business Start-Up to Success
bad ass post!
When my favorite coffee shop closed – we all upped and moved to a new place. Same thing! the conversation will continue. The strategy will remain the same! More short posts? this was awesome!!
Well, the chances of all three of those companies going under is slim to none. But, if it somehow did happen, I think people will just move on to something else. Social media isn’t disappearing. New applications are being built everyday, ready to replace one of the Big Four (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn) in the event that they take the plunge.
So basically your strategy wouldn’t change.
Peter Liao´s last blog ..HeyPeterman: Apple Claims New iPhone Only Visible To Most Loyal Of Customers – http://tr.im/uBk8 // Haha!
Those proficient within the realm of social media should also be developing relationships with web designers, devs, etc. If it doesn’t exist yet, build it!
Good thoughts. People doing social media marketing shouldn’t have to work very hard to adapt to changing circumstances if something like you said were to happen. Their goals should be to interact well with their potential market, and that won’t change. And as others have mentioned, sites will just pop up and replace these sites if they were to disappear. There are so many places to post a video online these days, for example. And actually, for a video, you should probably already be uploading to multiple video sites to maximize exposure — not just YouTube but other sites at http://vimeo.com and http://adwido.com for example. In any case, people who do something like that would definitely have not too much to worry about; they’d already be set.
This got me thinking. I don’t think it ever came to mind that these mediums we use will one day just… top being there. I don’t really know, I can’t say right off bat. I’ll come back and let you know.
Marcy´s last blog ..Why Using Camtasia Can Increase Your Affiliate Checks
Great post. To quote Clint Eastwood, you “adapt, improvise, overcome.” Others have already mentioned developing new platforms, so if some of the tools go away, you build or find new ones.
Like Stuart said, nothing takes away your best weapon – you. You can still write, talk, blog, tape, post, link; just gotta find where the audience goes, or better yet, lead them to a new place.
Davina K. Brewer´s last blog ..Ethics Hold ‘Em: PR, Journalism & Ethics Showdown
[...] and sparking easy conversation on her blog The Harte of Marketing. This week her post entitled “How truly serious are you about being social?” raises that question in a hypothetical world where Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin (gasp) [...]
Wow, what a great question Beth.
The responses are equally impressive! There are too many businesses out there that think “This is big, we need to be a part of this”, but forget to ask “Why?”
Personally, I like what Jamie Favreau mentioned: find out where prospects are talking and engage them there.
Worst case scenario: your company creates it’s OWN social networking to drive conversation!
@Everyone, thanks for the great comments. Honestly, I was expecting solutions for what you would do (tool-wise), but pleasantly surprised as to the direction the comments actually went. Maybe I should write shorter posts more often!
@MikeBilleter “social mediapocalypse” LOL! Was I that dire?
@StuartFoster, @Chris Jones, I wish MORE companies would realize that it is just about having a voice and re-connecting with the customer regardless of if it’s a social media tool or not. Great points!
@KevinFenton, @LenKendall, a custom community or forum is always a great option.
@DanMcCarthy, “we should instead call it ‘social platforming.’ That would begin to clarify the difference between those who build social media tools, and those who wield them for business.”
Excellent idea! I really dislike that the term social media is used for the tools and the culture or community. I think it confuses people…
@NadineBonner, “We’re not going to go back to old style PR or Marketing. We can’t.” Amen! I can’t go backwards and I wonder every day why marketers are so afraid of being social…it’s truly made me a better marketer.
Beth –
Late to the comment party. Seems to be how I roll lately. Your post reminded me of this Jimmy Fallon video that our intern, Julia, blogged about recently: http://idek.net/K8U
Here’s the Hulu link if you just want to watch the vid (though the post is good too): http://www.hulu.com/watch/75017/late-night-with-jimmy-fallon-too-many-social-networks
FWIW – Love the short posts. Good to mix it up once in awhile. I’m thinking about doing the same soon!
DJ Waldow
Director of Community at Blue Sky Factory
@djwaldow
DJ Waldow´s last blog ..Tan Man
[...] -“How truly serious are you about being social?” [...]
I’ve always felt it important to have some sort of centralized communication tool within your own space to serve as the backbone of one’s social media efforts. Blogs work well for this because they are social themselves. People can interact via comments, subscribe via RSS, etc.
I think it also helps to have some built in redundancy. On a purely social level I’m connected to my core contacts on a variety of spaces. So if Twitter dies, I can connect with X over on Facebook or Last.FM or StumbleUpon, or if they all go under on X’s blog.
This is a bit trickier for marketing. If you are focused on Twitter and Facebook and you don’t have the resources to connect with everyone everywhere it is hard to build up redundancy.
But one can begin cataloging connections. Using a tool like Tweetake you can download followers into a spreadsheet. There you can add columns for other contact points. Have an intern or someone go through this and start adding usernames these people use on other spaces such as Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. with direct links to their pages. If they have a Web site or blog add that too. Then you’ll have the contact information you need when your primary service goes under.
Many of us struggled with this in December, back when Pownce shut-down. Luckily Pownce had a place for users to add their other sites and they gave us a way to download our friends lists. We then all ran around experimenting with other services and setting up alternatives such as http://pownce2.ning.com and http://schmownce.com/. Where did most of us end up? Twitter. It wasn’t that Twitter was the best alternative; compared to Pownce it is quite limited. But Twitter was where everyone was. Most of us had already followed each other on Twitter and made additional connections there.
As the others have said, it’s not so much about using a particular service. It’s about going to the places where you’ll find the people you want to reach.
Heidi Cool´s last blog ..Twitter chats: if you can’t meet in real space, meet in real time.
It’s simple. Go where the people are and add value to the conversation.
It’s easy to forget that social media isn’t about the tools; it’s about the users.
If all of these tools shut down tomorrow, the (now ex-)users would still be out there. Which tool they would migrate to next is irrelevant because no one can predict where the next hub will be; that’s a solution that will be created to solve a problem that doesn’t exist yet. And, as much as marketers would love to direct their audience to their new tool of choice, people have a funny way of wandering off the map and into something new.
So don’t waste energy planning for a backup tool now. Just watch the crowd, go where they go, and always be relevant.
Justin Kownacki´s last blog ..5 Ugly Truths About Freelance
[...] Hoe moet je dan communiceren?” Einde vorige maand werd die vraag gelanceerd op de weblog “The Harte Of Marketing – Opinions & observations on marketing, PR and social media&…. De vraagsteller is, wat had je gedacht, een Amerikaans auteur / communicatie-specialiste, mevrouw [...]
[...] week, Beth Harte was thinking out loud and wondered if we would still be Social without Twitter and other social networks. And most of the responses, mine included, agreed that we’d find [...]
[...] game in town. Last year Beth Harte wondered what we’d do if networks like Twitter and LinkedIn Just. Shut. Down. Would your marketing and networking stop? Of course not. Social media has to work with your other [...]
I think that Mike, Chris and Justin summed this up quite well. People will still find a way to connect. Just because one road closes down, another avenue will open up. People are very resiliant. The tools of the trade may change, but the innovators of the world will be working on new ones. Change and the unknown can be very unsettling, but sometimes it leads to a better way.