Social media is a communications platform, not a pulpit

I recently tweeted that brands need to preach less and communicate more on Twitter, and my friend, Erica Friedman, tweeted back, "It's a case of "when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail." Marketing is one-way communication, so Twitter must be." 

Brilliant! This is a perfect analogy for the problem many brands create for themselves in social media.

Traditional marketing involves sending out messages intended to get your customer, client, patient, etc, to take some action that will ultimately result in a purchase of your product or service. It is indeed mostly one-way communication, as Erica said. Historically, very few marketing campaigns were intended to develop a free-flow of information back and forth between the brand and it's customers. However, that's what social media does. That's the whole point.

One of the first things I share with my clients is the simple fact that social media is a communications platform. It is a means to build relationships with customers, prospects, and others. It is a universally accepted fact that people generally do business with people they like, so social media facilitates that. It adds a human face and voice, one that can be compassionate, caring, and helpful. It helps connections, friends, fans, and followers feel like they know a little bit about you and/or your company, so they are more inclined to use you as a chosen resource when the time comes. 

If you open social media communication channels, and you just scream from your pulpit, you don't understand social media, (with a few exceptions.)

So, let's get back to my original statement that brands need to preach less and communicate more on Twitter. Smart companies use Twitter as a customer service function, as a sales tool, to build a community, to manage their reputation, to educate, to troubleshoot, and to build trust, among other things. All of these are facilitated by responding, engaging, and building relationships through communication. You can't do that if you ignore your followers and preach all day long. You're not fooling anybody but yourself if you refuse to participate in the very engagement that fellow twitter users expect.

Go ahead and take a look at your own twitter stream. If you don't see any @s, RTs and DMs to your followers, chances are you're missing the point, chasing away followers, and forfeiting a wonderful opportunity to grow your company.

- Christine Pilch

 Image Credit: Microsoft

Comments

[Yuricon]

I'm honored to be an inspiration - I think I might just return the favor!

[Christine Pilch]

Thanks for your terrific blog post in response:

Twitter 102, aka You Are Your Twitter Stream http://bit.ly/97okT5 (SocialOptimized inspired by @ChristinePilch)

[Rwohlner]

Great post Christine. Like any tool we all need to understand what social media is and what it isn't. The more I use social media the more I realize there is nothing simple or easy about usng it effectively. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.