In a Social Networking, You Are What You Give

I’m amazed at the number of sources there are for defining just what a social networking strategy should and should not have for companies considering implementing one.

Mainstream publications at times revert to a structured model of social networking strategies, no doubt to make the concepts quickly interpreted and used by their readers. Others, including bloggers and the leading Twitter contributors, have infused social networking strategies with an immediacy and urgency that is lost in mainstream media due to production timeframes. This is not a knock on either, just an observation.

What does emerge from watching this growing dichotomy are the following take-aways:

· It’s not about the company it’s about you and your passion for what you are doing. I can think of nothing more boring that having a blog that is faceless, nameless, and devoid of passion, even if it is one for a company. No wonder Forrester reports this week that B2B blogs have been seen as the new kings of dull. They need people writing who are passionate about what they do and this needs to infuse their writing and perspective. Waking up a boring B2B blog needs to start with a more passionate voice from people willing to sign their names, not just sign a corporate byline.

· Unleash people passionate about sharing information and writing, letting them do cannonballs into the social networking pool. The top-down methodologies that some mainstream media advocate miss this point. Let’s break it down (and I do not mean to sound patronizing here) but companies are just groups of individuals – if a social networking strategy is going to work find the most passionate person in the group and unleash them on the blog and Twitter. Not to self-promote or spam about your company but to deliver valuable information, which leads to the next point.

· Realize that “joining the conversation” is a cliché, giving more than you get is all. Twitter this week has had some great posts, including a blog reference from Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester and his great Why Some Don’t Need to Join the Conversation . Be sure to read it and the comments. It really gets one thinking about what social networking from a company strategy standpoint is all about.

· Before attempting to create a social networking strategy get a Twitter account and watch the traffic for a few weeks. I found this fascinating and highly addictive personally. Doing this shows you that you that offering up and serving others with useful information and insights is what makes this all work.

Bottom line: Social networking’s value is in giving more than you give. Find a passionate person and turn them loose, give them the authority to freely share information – on the good and bad – and refuse to be the king of dull by infusing passion into B2B blogs by writing about what your customers and you really care about.

Courtesy - Louis Columbus, Perfect CEM