The Future of Social Media

A year ago, I was enamored with social media. The honeymoon is over. That doesn’t mean I will stop using them and learn more, but now, in my second year, I’m just exhausted.

I used to lap up all the great stuff in my inbox. Now I just read some of it (three AmEx OpenForum daily newsletters, HARO, Copyblogger’s weekly round-up and few others). I take fewer webinars. I still Tweet and post on Facebook, but I’ve found my time is better spent on LinkedIn Groups, my blog and my monthly e-newsletter. That’s where I feel I’m connecting and contributing.

But being the perpetual student that I am, I still need to get my learning fix and I’ve found it at face-to-face meetings. Remember those? The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), Chicago chapter, is my new go-to place for education. You don’t have to be a member to attend, and their programs are spot-on (thanks to PRSA board member Ed Bury for directing me to this great find).

At last week’s luncheon meeting, a packed house heard some of the biggest names in Chicago’s social media stratosphere: Adam Keats (Weber Shandwick), Mike Pilarz (Burson-Marsteller) and Glenn Raines (Social Media Moves) – chew on the future of social media. They didn’t disappoint.

Here are my take-aways.

Be clear about your own social media objectives. Is it awareness, engagement, or both? Historically, PR is about awareness, but the Internet and social media have changed that. More often than not, it’s both. But not always.

The jury is out on the value of geographic platforms like Foursquare. Because I don’t have consumer clients, I wrote those off right away, and it seems I’m not the only one. The jury is out on location-based platforms, according to the speakers.

Smaller, closer networks of people are the wave of the future. For my small brand, I’ve never understood the value of a gazillion followers on Twitter, most of whom I don’t know and never will. I don’t accept invitations to become a Facebook friend unless I know the person, and of course, LinkedIn requires you to know the person before “connecting.”

Use caution when signing up for the so-called “flavor of the month.” This was a response to my question about Facebook’s brand-new feature called “Branch Out,” which seems to be taking off – and perhaps taking on LinkedIn.

When you’re a popular brand like Apple, you don’t have to work very hard at enthusiastic engagement. The rest of us have to go produce sweat, blood and tears for every “like” we seek out, then hope that like converts to a sale.

A recent PRSA speaker, Gini Dietrich, shared her own social media activity. On Twitter alone, she posts 200 tweets a day. Some of my PR friends said this was spamming, hands down, but I’m not so sure. She schedules one tweet an hour in advance and, I imagine, allocates the other 175 tweets to direct messages and retweets. And that’s just on Twitter. She’s on Facebook, Linked In, writes a daily blog and services who knows how many clients with her small but growing staff.

How she’s able to do this so successfully got me thinking. Ms. Dietrich already recognizes that direct-contact and active “listening” is the way to go – If you’re looking to strengthen relationships and build business.

I can’t envision a company like Apple as my own role model, although I have great admiration for the brand. But Gini Dietrich? Now there’s someone who seems to be doing it all. I admire her.

Tagged as: social media, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare

Share:

Chris Ruys is founder and president of Chris Ruys Communications, Inc., a marketing/public relations firm that specializes in high visibility campaigns using both traditional and social media strategies. She invites you along on her journey to become a social media master in “Getting Social.”