Dec 13, 2011

Before the How and the What comes the Why

I apologize for the weird title this post has. However I am finding it useful to use that sentence when people ask me "How can I leverage social media?" or "What should I do to make a 1000 people like me on Facebook?"

For heaven's sake, "Why?"

Why do you want to leverage social media? Do you want to create a more engaging brand? Give customers support? Help co-create products? Empower your advocates ?

I told Lighthouse Insights in this interview, also check the comments out:

The big one is to understand why they want to be on “social media” – If they view it as a channel to broadcast then they will never be successful. The focus should be in defining whom they should listen to, and engage in conversations for a business end. That business end could be co-creation, feedback, customer service – even HR.