What is Social Media?

I work in social media marketing. No one ever knows what that really is and I find it kind of hard to explain. I tried to explain it to my mom over the holidays and she still thinks it’s just people "goofing off on blogs and MySpace." (MySpace! Ha! Wow, she really is far behind.)

"It’s about creating awareness. Joining the conversation," I say.

"Yeah." Which means she doesn’t get it.

"Because if brands aren’t on Facebook and Twitter and part of the conversation then someone else will do it for them. And you want to make sure that you’re in charge of the voice of your brand."

"I guess I just don’t see what the point is."

"It’s because the whole world is social networking!"

"So, you sell things?"

"No, social media isn’t good for direct marketing."

"So I guess it seems like a waste of money to me."

"That’s part of the problem. Is that it takes a while to see ROI."

"That’s why it seems like a bad bet to me."

Argh! This is only what I do for a living. (For now, anyway.)

"How’s the company doing?” she continues. “Are they even up and running?

How does she think I’m getting paid??

"Yeah, they’re up and running."

"And you’re getting paid?"

?!?!

"Uh yeah. This is what I do for a living, Mom. Not only is the company up and running, and not only am I getting paid, but the company has tripled its revenue in the last year."

"Okay." Clearly she’s not convinced.

Because it’s hard to convince people that it’s necessary to fork over thousands of dollars for social media. Here is where the money is going: Brand Identity and Potential Damage Control. Social media is NOT about direct sales, ROI, or getting as many friends/fans/followers as possible. It’s about checking in to see what people are saying about you, and joining that conversation. Because if you’re not, some punk will step in to fill that void, and god know what he/she is going to say.
Social media is about taking charge of your brand’s voice. Simple as that.

Unfortunately that’s often too complicated and /or touchy feely for people to understand. It’s not about numbers. It’s not about sales. It’s about deciding on a voice and better yet, a vision, and how you want the public to perceive you. And then you have to stick to that, which is sometimes the hard part. See, social media has forced transparency onto companies. If you make a defective product, people are going to write about it. Shitty customer service? Someone will make that their Facebook post. Leave people on a plane sitting on the tarmac for 8 hours? Expect a ton of angry tweets. And you want to be there to talk to these people so you can nip this kind of thing in the bud.

But it works for good news too. Respond to people who love your brand. Bring them into your Twitter/Facebook fold and talk to them. They will love your brand even more, and then tell all their friends how cool your company is.

Social media is about talking and feeling, but it’s also about strategy – who are those “evangelists” for your brand? How can you get them to spread the word a little more? And sometimes ROI takes a little longer, but that’s how it works. Nip bad news in the bud, and spread the good news. Sometimes it hits right away, and sometimes it takes a little longer. But if you don’t do it now, you’re dooming yourself, because someone else will do it for you, and you will have lost control of your brand.

So Mom, that’s what I do.