Using social media is so much fun when you first begin communicating with people over the Interwebs.
I liken this feeling to the scene in the Steve Martin movie ‘The Jerk’ where the main character, played by Martin, screams with glee that, “The new phone book is here, the new phone book is here!”
But every social media soldier risks suffering from fatigue when we lose our initial euphoria and begin to question the usefulness of all our Twittering and Facebooking (this is especially true for business owners).
One of the little talked about issues with social networking sites is churn; the percentage of users who drop off the charts for one reason or another. Many people simply decide their time can be spent more wisely elsewhere. Others lack the understanding of beneficial features that could make their social experience more rewarding (one of my friends who flies cross-country for his job says he fell in love with Facebook all over again when he learned how to upload mobile photos for his daughter to see).
Here is a bit of advice for analyzing your own social media pullback and how you can push it back into being an exciting, useful tool:
Goals Are Not Optional
You have goals to strive towards at work, right? Why should your time be worth less to you Online? Whenever I stumble through social tools without a real purpose I get frustrated quickly. However when I put pen to paper and make a list of the objectives I want to accomplish, my Internet life makes sense again.
Takeaway: Deploy your social media strategy with the pursuit of a specific goal in mind.
Search For Usability Over Novelty
Would you believe the developers of the iFart app for the iPhone are now sitting pretty with fat bank accounts? Millions of people spend cash on silly applications but won’t drop a dime on intelligent, usable social platforms. So, iFart or TweetMic? Frogger or ColorSplash?
Takeaway: Have fun with social tools, but learn which can be used to accomplish your goals.
Search is Social
Don’t forget that social media still relies on search (distribution) to succeed. You need to crack the search code as part of your overall social campaign. These steps include search engine optimization, search engine marketing (there’s a difference between SEO & SEM), as well as learning about the audience you wish to interact with.
Takeaway: You have the power to create a massive distribution network unlike anything in else in the previous generations — if you know how to stay excited about the pursuit of a meaningful social media goal.