Yes, there are holdouts, but social media adoption is as fast as anything I’ve ever seen. It took at least 7 years for companies to stop asking “why do we need a Web site?” We’ll have nearly universal social media usage at a corporate level long before then.
If you believe Forrester’s predictions on interactive spending, by 2014 U.S. marketers will spend twice as much on social media, as on email. Wow. Email marketing is a pretty fundamental building block of modern communication, and to imagine twice as much being spent on social media is exhilirating. It also scares me to death.
I’m scared because in their zeal to get on the social media train, companies are starting to treat it like a linear equation, like a Paula Dean recipe, like a formulaic summer blockbuster starring an impossibly handsome young man in great peril.
Social media is not a checklist.
“Let’s see. We have a Twitter account. We have a Facebook page. We have a blog. I guess we’ve covered all the bases. We’re all done.”
Yikes.
Your Grandkids Will Be Community Managers
Social media is about fundamentally changing the dynamic between brands and their customers. From master and servant, to peer to peer. That necessitates a nuanced, shifting, sustained effort that requires winning hearts and minds on an individualized level. Just being there isn’t enough.
The checklist approach causes two types of problems. First, companies are engaging in social media without any sort of meaningful, long-term social media strategy that gives a rationale for each component. Maybe Facebook isn’t right for your brand. There’s no law (yet) that says you have to have a Twitter account. Your results may (and should) vary with regard to social media implementation.
The second problem is that without a strategy, the specific social media tactics tend to pull apart and operate independently over time. The Facebook approach no longer syncs with the blog, etc. This creates the social media version of a golf hat, where you have about 8 different logos in one place, with no apparent reason why they are adjacent, all fighting for a share of attention.
The Long Haul Speech
I know it’s all the rage right now. But if you’re going to get your company involved in social media, at that very first kick-off meeting where you convene your cross-functional team, make a very important statement.
“If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do this right. And that means we cannot turn back. Once we’ve engaged with customers in an authentic, human way, to stop will feel like a slap in the face. So, we all need to realize that our social media efforts are likely to continue beyond this quarter or this year. Our social media efforts must be sustained forever, just like our phone number and our Web site. Is everyone on board with that concept?”
Will you tell them that? Have you already?
About Jay Baer
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Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist [link to post]
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From @jaybaer “Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist” [link to post] The Long Haul Speech is a must.
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Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist | Social Media Marketing … [link to post]
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socialhelp: Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist | Social Media Marketing … [link to post]
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Well said from @jaybaer – Incinerate your Social Media Checklist – [link to post]
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RT @InnovationTrend – Social media is about fundamentally changing the dynamic btwn brands & their customers [link to post]
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Show this to your clients: via @jaybaer: Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist: [link to post]
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RT @misskatiemo: Well said from @jaybaer – Incinerate your Social Media Checklist – [link to post]
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Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist | [link to post] | For those in social media who want to know how clients might be thinking.
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Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist [link to post] #socialmedia #marketing
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@jaybaer Couldn’t have said it better!
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Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist [link to post] #socialmedia #marketing (via @camiloolea)
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Really interesting article, helpful information RT @jaybaer Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post]
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RT @jaybaer: Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post]
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Just being there isn’t enough! Great post RT @jaybaer Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post]
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Insightful message: “Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist” [link to post] (RT @EyeTraffic)
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RT @spurdave: Show this to your clients: via @jaybaer: Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist: [link to post]
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Show this to your clients: via @jaybaer: Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist: [link to post] (via @spurdave)
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RT @jaybaer Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post] – Agreed.
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RT @jaybaer Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post]
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RT Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist [link to post] #socialmedia #marketing
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RT @jaybaer:Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post] -reminds me of build site, run banners, redo in 1 year
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RT @jaybaer: Why your social media program should not look like a golf hat. [link to post]
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oh damn.. mine does I’m a sad panda RT @jaybaer: Why your social media program should not look like a golf hat. [link to post]
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Why your SM program should not look like a golf hat. Plus an inspirational speech from @jaybaer! [link to post]
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Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist: [link to post] by @jaybaet via @spurdave
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RT @jaybaer: Why your social media program should not look like a golf hat. [link to post] – Social Media is NOT a checklist
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RT @jaybaer Why your social media program should not look like a golf hat. [link to post] http://url4.eu/MMdq
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RT @tweetmeme Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist | Social Media Marketing | Social Media Consulting – Convince &… [link to post]
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RT @tweetmeme Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist [link to post]
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GREAT post re social media approach from @jaybaer “Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist” [link to post]
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Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist | Social Media Marketing | Social Media Consulting – Convince &… [link to post]
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Incinerate Your SM Checklist (CMs: make sure your client communicates strategy/plan to all employees.) [link to post] RT @jaybaer
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Article: “Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist” [link to post]
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RT Article: “Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist” [link to post]
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RT @JeffHurt: Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist: [link to post] by @jaybaet via @spurdave This is a must read!!!! #e4chat
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RT @jaybaer: Grab a torch. Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post] http://myloc.me/vT5q
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RT @jaybaer Grab a torch. Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post]
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RT @jaybaer: Grab a torch. Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post]
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Grab a torch. Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post] (via @jaybaer)
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RT @jaybaer Grab a torch. Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post] good article.
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Guess you’ve taught me well. Told client this today. RT @jaybaer: Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post]
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Great article RT @ jaybaer Grab a torch. Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post]
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Love the statement at the end. RT @jaybaer: Grab a torch. Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post]
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RT @carol_phillips: RT @jaybaer: Grab a torch. Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post]
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Businesses took 7 yrs to catch on to why they needed a website. With Social Media, you snooze you lose: RT@tweetmeme [link to post]
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@mjanasek Thanks!! This is genius. Incinerate Your #socialmedia Checklist [link to post] #emarketing #twitter #facebook #blogging
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This is the 2nd @jaybaer post I’ve shared & bookmarked in the last wk. Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist. [link to post]
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RT: @jaybaer Grab a torch. Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post] An excellent perspective.
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incinerate your social media checklist -great graphic that accompanies the article [link to post]
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Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist. Do it but do it RIGHT [link to post]
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“Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist | Social Media Marketing …” [link to post] #plugyourbook
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RT @SocialMediaMaze Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist | Social Media Marketing … [link to post]
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Very good points…RT @tweetmeme Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist – Convince &… [link to post]
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Must read RT @tweetmeme Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist I Social Media Marketing [link to post] (via @jaybaer)
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http://bit.ly/jossO Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist | Social Media Marketing … [link to post] http://friendfeed.com/e/321b686e-28fe-497c-b0c2-5d7f8f59edf4
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RT @keachymama: GREAT post re social media approach from @jaybaer “Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist” [link to post]
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RT @jaybaer Grab a torch. Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post] #socialmedia #marketing
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RT @jaybaer: Grab a torch. Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post] (This is a MUST READ)
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RT @richredman RT @jaybaer Grab a torch. Why you should Incinerate your Social Media Checklist [link to post] #socialmedia #marketing
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Do like the sentiment – authentic interaction w/ people – behind ‘incinerate your social media checklist’ [link to post]
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Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist [link to post]
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“Social media is not a checklist.” [link to post] [Excellent post by @jaybaer ]
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[...] it from the words of Jay Baer at Convince and Convert: “Social media is about fundamentally changing the dynamic between brands and their [...]
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RT @TrendTracker: Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist [link to post] #socialmedia
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“You need a social media strategy” RT @TrendTracker: Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist [link to post] #socialmedia
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RT @AdDataExpress Social media is about the dynamic between brands and their customers. DM @arthurbarbato [link to post]
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Social media is about the dynamic between brands and their customers. 9.15 DM @arthurbarbato for reservation to webinar! [link to post]
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RT @TrendTracker: Incinerate Your Social Media Checklist [link to post] #socialmedia (via @JayBaer)
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[...] as much on social media, as they do on email. However, as Social Media Guru, Jay Baer states, “Social media is not a checklist” You cannot simply decide just to open a Twitter account, a Facebook page, and a blog. Using [...]