Social Media: Not About Tools (Gasp!)

With all the buzz and rage about social media, most people limit it to Twittering, bloggins, and Facebook fan pages. While these tools are certainly important and worthwhile for organizations and brands to use, they in no way define social media.

The essence of social media is about relationships. Granted, these relationships are had and maintained through

technology, as well as through the sharing of information. It’s unfortunate that some people view information as hard facts, world news, and industry insights, as people’s interests are varied. You can build relationships in social media by talking about and sharing information on a hobby, favorite band or song, fashion, movie, jokes, childhood memories, etc. With the web, we all have a choice to consume and participate in whatever “floats our boat.” As a brand, you have to acknowledge that there are some people who value your information and others who don’t. Nothing personal. But it’s when you engage with those who do value your brand, your info, and your product/service that you find the true treasure in social media: community.

A passionate, informed community is what every brand needs nowadays to establish, maintain, and grow sales. And just because the brand isn’t participating doesn’t mean that the community isn’t already out there. The Moleskine journals and notebooks have a pretty strong community of loyalists unbeknownst to them. Likewise for other brands, in or out of social media.

Regardless of what tool or platform is popular at the moment, the community and relationships that your brand or business builds is crucial. Your community extends beyond tools.