Ask any successful person they’re secret to success, and they will tell you it comes down to relationship. Who you know, being connected and serving others creates a whole lot more access, information and opportunity. Especially today, there is an emphasis on the value of social practices. In fact, social business changes are apparent everywhere. Whether it’s networking practices, the use of social media, or just improving our social relationships, everyone from teenagers to the CEO are considering what their social strategy will be. What we are witnessing is a trend of social interaction that will lead us all to more productivity and success if we embrace it.
Currently there are two camps. Some embrace the social movement as interesting, fun, valuable and strategic, while others reject it outright. Some will suggest that social media will fade away, and some find it outright destructive and dangerous. The truth is that email and the internet also held these two perspectives, and today it is hard to find anyone who is not at least connected to the internet. The new socio-technical trends and tools are prototypes, the future of work, and many professionals and firms are finding outright profits in having a social strategy.
Therefore, regardless of your formal role, or your firm’s place in your industry, now is the time to be thinking about what your social strategy is. Just like any other trend in business, there will be integration of old practices with new. The same applies here. A company Facebook page (new) should be integrated with its website (old). Your Twitter strategy (new) should be integrated with your message strategy (old). Your LinkedIn account (new) should reflect your resume’ (old). And all of these can be integrated with your live networking activity. Social strategies don’t replace what you do, it complements it perfectly. These tools provide for the interaction with customers, prospects and employees that your websites never has done. Your social strategy takes your efforts and makes them interactive in a world that craves interaction and relationship.
At this point the dissenters will suggest that new social tools somehow take away from people being together. I argue that the opposite is true. A social media presence allows you to create more relationships with people who want to have that relationship. To leverage social media is to incorporate it into your overall communication strategy, to create a true relationship strategy. Your social strategy allows your company, and you, to manage the relationships you have and build new ones, allow you to stay connected to customers and your greater professional environment. It also allows everyone to be real, more authentic, and enhance brand.
Facebook has 500 Million users today, each having an average of 130 friends. LinkedIn has 55 Million users, and twitter continues to grow. All these tools can be served from a smart-phone, and all these trends are still growing. Over the next few years as these tools merge with traditional business communication practices new opportunities will emerge and evolve to add value for those who embrace them.
Even if this all seems like a passing fad, it’s not, and the trend will be for further growth of the new frontier of social strategy. You have to ask yourself right now – What is your social strategy?