Get Your “Head” Out of Social!

Everyone is trying to figure out how to drive revenue, brand equity, market awareness and all related goals using social. Individuals and entire organization are constantly “thinking” about how to apply social to these goals.

Think tanks are being formed by the “BIG” to see how using social can enable them to capture a bigger share of the market. In other words everyone has got their head stuck up into the use of social to gain something measurable, valuable and economically rewarding.

What Is Wrong With “Thinking”?

Thinking about how to use social to achieve specific goals is a worthy mental  exercise.  However unless you “think” about the intent of all things social you can’t  understand why buyers might not want to “connect” with you.  Thinking about intent comes from the heart rather than the head.

I’ve engaged with a lot of smart people in my lifetime. Some smart people think they know a lot while others are smart because they know what they don’t know.  The difference between the two is their social acumen. Social acumen is a skill set that reflects an understanding of how to “relate” with people’s heart (the emotions) and not just their head (the intellect).  A lot of people are chasing an ROI from social media for several reasons including:

1. To satisfy upper management
2. To justify new media marketing efforts
3. To justify the expense
4. To justify how smart they are
5. Because the competition is

None of the above five motivations have anything to do with buyer intents or needs rather they have everything to do with satisfying management needs.  What management needs is really an education about the dynamics of the marketplace and the intent of buyers. Until they understand these disruptive changes and learn the related dynamics they will continue to rely on old management methods that fuel irrelevant activity centered on justifying use of social media for the goal of an ROI.

Organizations and individuals who are consumed with thinking about ways to use social media to achieve measurable goals lack a social connection with the marketplace . Lacking that “connection” means you are not creating experiences that are emotionally rewarding. Rather you push out your proposition that may catch a few at a moment of intent while the many consider your lack of social acumen anti-social. When the few “take your bait” the subsequent experience is not even close to “being social.“  It only takes a few to tell the many the experience they had trying to interact with you.

You can  analyze  “how to use” social media for your goals but miss the real intent that drives ROI, satisfying buyer intentions. Even if people don’t buy something as a result of your message doesn’t mean they won’t have an intent to buy in the future. Whether they buy in the future or not they are likely to tell their “friends” about their experiences with you, your organization and how well you did serving their intentions, not yours.

Get your “head” out of social and put your heart into it! What is the ROI in your heart?

About Jay: Jay Deragon’s professional career includes providing strategic management consulting services to Fortune 500 companies as well as local small businesses. He has consulted with numerous industries spanning over 25 years of professional experience globally. His current professional endeavors are all centric to the disruptive nature of the social web. He writes at Relationship Economy and provides social media strategic services to businesses large and small. Jay Deragon is an avid student of the emerging landscape of all things social and the subsequent impact on business dynamics. Since 2004 Mr. Deragon has been actively studying, sharing and learning how business as unusual is changing business methods, models and relationships. Life is a journey and the experiences along the way provides learning that furthers the experiences if we know how and what to learn. for more info go here http://www.relationship-economy.com/?page_id=2

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