Social Media Strategy
Social Media Strategists do not have a future.
Review definitions of the word “strategy” and you will invariably stumble upon the concept of setting and achieving long-term objectives. If there is a preconception that those must be set and achieved in social media, then what you are really doing is tactical planning.
There is a future, a bright and shiny one of solid gold inlaid with platinum, for strategic thinkers who have expertise in social media. There are two outstanding issues that no one has resolved yet. Take a shot at them:
Firstly, there are no metrics for social media. By and large, ink-on-paper publishers agree that readership and advertising revenue are key performance indicators in their industry. Advertisers have a high level of confidence in Total Spontaneous Awareness, it accurately predicts share of market. Film distributors and television broadcasters have first-week box office gross and Nielsen ratings. What is critical to validate a set of metrics is the consensus of an industry. There are plenty of statistics about social media, but where is the industry consensus? Find the number or the two numbers that actually predict behaviour changes and you will be in the strategy business.
Secondly, social media are not an evolution of previous channels. They are a catastrophic change: for the first time in history, mass communication is created by its users. If you own a brand, this is terrifying: your absolute control over the message disappears while completely unpredictable messages appear. According to studies by McKinsey and Forrester, up to 80% of the brand discourse on social media has nothing to do with the brand owner’s communication plan. The strategist’s mission will be to bring the discourse back into the brand’s house while training the brand to think and behave like a user.
Those two issues will probably not be resolved in this decade. They need a new generation of CEOs who will be more fluent in new media. In the meantime, there are things you can do to become a strategic thinker with “Chief Social Officer” on your business cards.
Sharpen your insights: human nature never changes. Master the art, science and voodoo of sifting through social media clutter for the gold nugget. Be a mathematician who can paint. Count in decades.
Make plans that can be executed beautifully on copper engravings and the next smartphone killer app. Get rid of any remaining fascination for processes and technology.
Invent!
Then you will be the kind of strategic thinker everyone is hotly pursuing. Your future will amaze you.
