I recently presented at Microstrategy’s iCommerce Summit in Amsterdam on the importance of looking inside to improve how to engage on the outside. Following the event, I was invited to join Peter Gentsch of Big, Michael Buck of Dell, and Andreas Bock of Telekom. The conversation explored the importance of rethinking how businesses approach social media. Rather than driving social media strategies based on just clever ideas, campaigns, soft KPIs, and intangible results, I shared the importance of focusing on the bigger picture. At stake is nothing less than not only the future of social media in your organization, but more importantly, how decision makers recognize and value relationships throughout the customer life cycle.
I’m often asked what advice do I have for social media strategists and managers. While my answer is below, the truth is that we have to stop talking about social media as the catalyst for earning internal support and instead view it as one of the enablers for transformation.
Executives don’t think about tools they think about results. Aligning social and digital strategies with business objectives and priorities is the foundation for earning buy-in from the c-suite. Talking about Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and attempting to create “new” metrics to substantiate investments is ultimately a losing battle. And quite honestly, you’re risking competitive positioning and customer relationships by not thinking about engagement in channels where people are of their own free will and mind to come and go as they please.
The takeaway is to think about social media, mobile, web, as a holistic digital strategy that drives desired experiences and outcomes.
Welcome to the era of tangible where business value and outcomes are factored into digital strategy and prioritization. Otherwise you’re just doing social media either for the sake of it or because it’s what everybody else is doing. And, what good is that?
Brian Solis is principal at Altimeter Group, a research-based advisory firm. Solis is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media. A digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist, Solis has studied and influenced the effects of emerging media on business, marketing, and culture. His new book, The End of Business as Usual explores the emergence of GenerationC, a new generation of customers and how businesses must adapt to reach them. Engage, Solis' previous book, is regarded as the industry reference guide for businesses to build and measure success in the social web.
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