by Susanne Vara
1. Know that EVERYONE is not Engaging in Social Media. It is our world but it is a small majority of the people. I know it seems crazy but not all of your customers or potential customers are tweeting, liking or connecting. Social media is a medium just like tv, radio, print and an open door of a brick and mortar shop.
2. Listen. Listening in social media is almost an over used term but yet there is so much to listen to as we continue to grow in this community. Listening is learning and learning for a business is a constant. With social media there are more channels to pay attention to but there are so many more listening stations afforded that we employ to make listening easier.
3. Create One Message. Social media is still advertising as much as people do not want to admit it. You are there representing a company, your own company or as an individual. The one message gets you noticed. Yes your profile as does mine mentions other interests but we talk to them about the interest which is one part of us which is still one message. A little guilt by association which is good as it focuses in on the one message.
4. Create Conversations. This seems hard but it is so easy. We all look to talk to the leader and forget about the other people who are there. The leader is leading, no doubt about that, but they are still learning and accepting this change of being involved in social media. But, the leader is wanting to have us talk to each other to generate new thoughts and show them their works create conversation.
5. Overcome Fear. The fear of posting is what prohibits us from accepting change and embracing social media. Oh no, so many will see what PI am saying or we question is this the right thing to say? I talk with clients and colleagues about this frequently. My response is always be you. We like you. When you try and be someone else, you are always you at some point, if you try and emulate someone else, we know. In social media we feel we have to conform to the group but in real life do we always do this? No, we don’t.
6. Leave Your Ego at the Door. As much as fear comes into play so does ego. Get a little boost in traffic, responses, or comments and whoa, we see expert coming. It is funny as with social media we see expert, guru, ninja, etc but yet with a heart surgeon we see credentials. There is no ego, just performance. In social media change is almost everyday with new technology or something new to learn but yet we see experts. How can you be an expert on something without performing?
7. Social Media is Not a Strategy. Social media is a medium and not a strategy. It is a part of an overall marketing plan that is a part of the strategy but it is not a strategy by itself. This is a big part of embracing the change of social media. Social media is a different means of advertising just as TV was when commercials hit the airwaves. People talked then and with social media they are still talking but this time they can talk to the brand.
8. Be Responsive. This is big. Responsive is more than thanking for a retweet, responding to an update, responding to a comment. Embracing the change that social media affords us is taking the time to see if the person who retweeted our article has a blog that we may enjoy, see what they are tweeting to see if we should follow them, responding with a comment to someone else whom has commented in addition to or in replace of commenting to the author (and of course seeing if they have blog too).
Embracing change is more than finding more time to be apart of something that you are unsure of. It encompasses overcoming fear which leads to being responsive but yet a leader in creating the conversation. Physical fear is real and sometimes emotional fear is real too but emotional fear is so many times driven by the failure or unsure voice within us. Social media is change as we are all still learning from each other. It is a new way to market that is so incredibly powerful when we stop chasing and be there with giving more than we get. Accept the change and learn from it to grow you and also your business. We all do well when we talk to others as we see a new perspective.
http://socialmediatoday.com/suzannevara/209650/8-tips-embracing-change-social-media
