The risk of social media

Social media is currently all the rage in marketing and PR circles. Everybody wants to be on Twitter or Facebook or be running a blog. While these are admirable intentions and, I am very happy to see marketing engaged as a positive force, I do want to express caution as I foresee several areas of concern which are being neglected in a full force rush into embracing social media.

First of all, I believe we may be recreating the same problems that went into developing web sites when the Internet became popular in the late 1990's. Everyone was so keen then on having a web site that sites were designed based on what looked cool and what the latest technology could offer, that very little attention was paid to what was expected of a web site and how the web site would help further the overall marketing and sales goals of the organization.

Similar things are taking place with social media. Organizations are now so keen about being on Twitter or having a Facebook page that very little attention is being paid to how these vehicles can best be utilized to further the marketing efforts of the organization. I know of one company that is up on Twitter and has a number of followers, but what they do is so useless that they receive no benefit. No one is interested in what they have to say because the only reason they set up Tweets is for a customer to chat with a sales person about upcoming product revisions or minor technical issues.

Both Tweeter and Facebook, along with Blogs, have the potential to be tremendous resources for developing thought leadership and establishing clear and solid bonds with their future and potential customers. There are tremendous benefits to social media but they must structured within the larger marketing plan. While you and I may go on these sites for our own amusement, another area to be wary of, for organizations and specifically corporations social media sites are an area that must be managed wisely.

No organization would ever consider allowing an employee to develop and place an ad, or to send out proprietary information to a competitor. Yet with a poorly developed and managed social media policy, you may be doing exactly this same thing. However with appropriate controls, social media can be an explosive tool in bringing the appropriate message to not only a target audience, but one that shares your interest in cutting edge solutions.