I recently had the fortunate opportunity to hear David Thomas, social media manager for SAS Institute, speak at a Triangle (NC) IABC meeting about what this high-tech giant of an organization is doing in terms of using social media. Among many pearls of wisdom, he passed along four important points that have resonated with me as a small business owner myself and as one who consults with them, and I quote:
- Social media is a set of tools, not a strategy;
- Content is king;
- You need 1.0 before you can have 2.0; and
- Only you know what will work for you.
Since this blog is particularly targeted to fellow small business owners, I’d like to discuss each in turn and offer my humble suggestions for how his wisdom is so true, especially as you consider using social media in the context of your overall communications strategy. For this post, I’ll jump to the third bullet first. Yes, that does make sense.
“You need 1.0 before you can have 2.0.” One can interpret this two ways. If you are already feeling inadequate and lagging behind others in your understanding or use of social media, it may be tempting to feel even further behind.
On the contrary, I prefer the more reassuring interpretation that it is okay to moderate the pace and get your 1.0 house in order before blundering into 2.0. After all, in another part of his talk he referred to it being better to have no blog than a dormant one.
Busted! Mine has lain dormant lately as I have worked out some other lower-tech, but vitally important, bugs in my business (like a faulty landline wire that is now getting replaced, but which had me without regular telephone or high-speed Internet for some time, and another, separate, bug in my e-mail that got resolved this very afternoon). I’ll save my rant about certain major telephone companies for another day . . . this is supposed to be a happy, encouraging blog for small business owners, right?
Thomas’ good point was that you don’t want to be out there Twittering and blogging and attracting people to your Web site, if your Web site still needs some serious attention. So true.
As a communicator, I’ll take it a step further in that you also don’t want to be out there doing all these things until you have a clear message and a clear marketing position and a clear reason for doing it. In other words, be careful the attention you attract and make sure you are ready for it. I couldn’t agree more and am chomping at the bit to overhaul my own Web site to have it better reflect the nature of my business and the energy and creativity behind it.
So, I take this as an invitation to step back and look critically and constructively at all of our 1.0 activities. Does it really matter how snazzy the new e-newsletter is if we don’t have a well-scrubbed database for targeted distribution? Does Twittering and blogging make sense when a short period of planning and development is more in order to prepare for a holiday marketing push? Does any of this make sense when what may most affect the bottom line in the next few weeks or months is about upgrading basic office software and learning how to use it to improve efficiency and help keep priorities straight?
This provides the perfect segue into discussion of another of Thomas’ points: “social media is a set of tools, not a strategy.”
In the meantime, I propose several questions to consider: What is your message, no matter what the platform, and is it clear and consistent across the fundamental areas of Web 1.0? If the answer doesn’t come easily then grant yourself well-deserved planning time to invest in your message before worrying about mastering a new set of social media tools. And if you are ready, then have at it — and let me know where you are on Twitter, etc.
Until next time, with the help of David Thomas, I hope my 2 cents has helped make some sense and will ultimately help your bottom line.
