“Social Media” is the IN word these days. Still in its infancy, there are plenty of ideas to explore (and loopholes to exploit). How will social media pan out in future, it’s practically unknown even though we know of a fair share of analysis (or speculations if you’d like) from various sources. These reasons could be why decision makers are still looking in other directions.

I often asked myself and others, how can we further define the role social media plays? At some point, I suggested how social media can be applied across multiple disciplines in a typical corporate environment. I have also appended three examples separately.

Off my head, I know social media is gradually changing. Plenty have been said, so I am not going to repeat them. There are cultural differences to be considered, there are brand perceptions to fix, and not forgetting WOM to incorporate. The only thing I am rather peeved about social media is, the constant force-feeding to change companies into something else which they are not.

In my ideal world, I would prefer social media to complement operations but not adversely perform a plastic surgery on businesses. Instead of tweaking proven principles, perhaps a better option is to identify and spot factors that have contributed well. Later then, apply those to your social media initiatives. Pretty much, what works and what don’t.

CONTINUATION. I have long observed how companies are engaging bloggers on a regular basis. With a flurry of events, I begin to co-relate the similarities between these coverage and PayPerPost advertising. In most examples that we can spot visibly, they are nothing more than one-off publicity exposures.

Some industry leaders suggested the removal of the word “campaign”, I’m taking it one step further by advocating the erasure of the “campaign mindset” for a simple reason. When you are able to view and plan your initiatives beyond the campaign mindset, you have removed “The End” factor and allows your activities to flow longer. That will, in turn, make room for the continuation of discussions and sharing of experiences long after the program is launched.

CONCENTRATION. Slightly deviated from my pet topic of ethical conducts, I am not heading that way though. With a lack of control over social media activities, some Web 2.0 companies have figured their ways around approaches that are deemed as misleading in the physical corporate world. I would like to give the benefit of doubt that they are more misguided than genuinely out here to scam.

It’s easy to build a Web 2.0 website or blog these days, with programmers killing each other with price wars. Before you do so, you might want to re-look into your original business plan. When you pluck out the key roles of the business, you can derive why social media is beneficial to your business. You can then communicate that vision through your social media initiative. No misleading there for your participants. Why are you adopting social media? How does it benefit your participants? What do you want to achieve from this connection?

Much like how I was advocating a social platform for a pal in the machinery industry, by stream-lining the flow of information and procedures which are being shared among the various vendors and clients. This is already a popular practice in industrial-driven Japan, but if implemented here, it’s potentially first of its kind among machinery dealers in Singapore.

CONTACT. We have heard long enough about building relationships through social media, but realistically, how many are? The first thing that can cripple your social media initiative, is staying out of touch with the very people you are wanting to engage. By my definition of staying in touch, I mean more than just a monthly newsletter.

If you’re hoping to build a fruitful relationship, you will want to keep yourself contactable at all times. This is a very plain mistake committed by, without regrets, from the top of the pecking order all the way to the men on the ground. Why would you publish your email when you never seem to respond? Why would you want interested parties to be kept waiting in agony for two weeks before they get answers to their simple enquiries on your blog? In the blogosphere especially, “too many enquiries” is not an acceptable answer. You will be surprised how bad some social media experts can be with a simple thing like staying in touch.

Face it, these constants apply in all environments, social media or not. The adoption of social media should not erase the classroom basics. You do not want to lose that human touch, and having prospects feel like they’re dealing with dead machines more than living humans.

Social media is partly about humanizing online interaction afterall. There are hardly any social media tools that can move on its own, without you moving it. So we have the infrastructures now, where are our players?

Related Read:
On Hiring Social Media Twits
The Many Challenges of Social Media Industry