The marketing and technology world is on fire with this new form of communication: social media. And yes… I did mean to say new. Many in the corporate and small business world have yet to set foot into this new communication platform. This is hard for many social media advocates to grasp. How could the business world not be ENTIRELY tuned in to the growing social avalanche that is happening in their front yard?
In truth… social media is not really in their front yard at all… more like an alley down the street… waiting to be swept up by an avalanche of customer opinion and buying patterns. We are talking about a flood gate collecting a force that will… soon… explode.
We are still in the infancy of social media adoption across a wide spread of the globe.
This is in no way degrading the idea that the tools of social media will not be a main form of communication in the years to come… we are just not there yet.
We (the business world) are going to see a significant change in how consumers buy and communicate with brands in the years to come. We will see a wide-spread use of social media tools in both the Internet and mobile environments.
So what should the business world do when debating the use of social media for communication and lead generation?
Take it from the words of Jay Baer at Convince and Convert:
“Social media is about fundamentally changing the dynamic between brands and their customers. From master and servant, to peer to peer.”
Now is the time to educate on how to effectively use the tools. Do not listen to a social media expert when they tell you that you MUST be using the tools. You must be educating on how to best use the tools and how they are applicable to your growth as a company. PERIOD.
Yes… there will come a time when the Internet will unleash the flood gates of 60 even 70 percent of the globe… one unified community of customers, products, services, and brands…
The question is… will you be ready when your front yard is flooded… or not?
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Great post…I am still very leery of the value of social media to a business. Thanks for thoughts.
Thanks for the comment Nathan. I guess the question remaining is why be leery? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
Kyle,
Leave it to you to hammer the issue. I have my waders on ready to wade into the flood to pull the golf businesses out so they survive. It is very unfortunate that Social Media is not getting the recognition in the mainstream marketing arena. Maybe logic does not prevail there. Anyway, lets keep hammering at the floodgates and get this show on the road.
Buddy I have my boat and life jacket. When the flood comes I will be ready! Love the analogies in this post – floods and alleys. Keep hammering away on these great points Kyle.
Now is definitely the time for companies to become knowledgeable about the Social Media space but I feel its not something that can be jumped into right away.Companies need to ensure that this outlet will be useful for the company's goals and that the corporate culture and educated staff are in place to move ahead with it.
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