Is social media worth the time? It is if you treat it like a serious relationship and not a one-night stand

by Kathleen Martin

There’s a fogginess to discussions about social media that reminds me of high school physics class. There, I understood concepts in isolation but could never see clearly how they worked together to produce a measurable result. Social media—that great big creative space—makes sense in its parts: blogs, podcasts, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr. And no doubt, in countless marketing or business-development meetings across the region, someone is saying (because they feel they should), “We need a presence on Facebook!” Their colleagues are nodding around the table because they’re sure it’s true. But how many genuinely understand why?

And “why?” is the primary question Mitch Joel wants you to ask about social media. Joel is the president of Twist Image, a Montreal- and Toronto-based digital marketing-and-communications agency. Author of the book Six Pixels of Separation and a blog of the same name, Joel’s expertise has been sought by companies such as Google, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, and Walmart.

People have a pervasive sense that they need social media, says Joel. “But it’s an almost ridiculous statement. The statement should be, what strategically are we trying to accomplish? What are our business objectives? Once you understand those, you need to ask if there are tools out there that can get you closer to your goal in a faster way that costs less money and might be more engaging. For me, that’s where social media gets very exciting.”

In his book, Joel is careful to differentiate between tactics and strategy. Tactics are the available tools (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Strategy is knowing why your company should put its resources behind a blog instead of a Facebook site or why creating YouTube videos suits your objectives better than a podcast. Strategy is the hard work of understanding your brand, your consumer, and how you might add value to the online spaces they occupy. 

Social media tools offer brands—be they products, companies, or individuals—the chance to become publishers and the option to publish the kind of content that best suits them. It gives them a method of two-way communication that functions in an entirely different dimension than traditional advertising, which broadcasts information. 

The simplicity and cost-effectiveness of the channel makes it attractive, but one wonders about how messages can possibly cut through in a space populated by every company or person who has that sense they should be in it. 

“It’s a communications channel that is entirely cluttered and entirely barren at the same time,” says Joel. “Everyone can do it, but it doesn’t mean they’re going to be good at it. You would think the conversation would be all over the place, but the fact is that people are great at filtering out the crap. The great stuff rises to the top, and the others don’t do as well and fall off after a short while.” The brands that are winning are trying to engage customers in conversations that add value to their industry and demonstrate their leadership.

Take Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management, for example, a division of the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture, and Heritage. I wouldn’t have imagined they would be racking up fans on Facebook or Twitter. In fact, archivists exploiting the power of social media feels a little like an oxymoron. But they are. Check them out: twitter.com/NS_Archives. They have more than 2,400 followers. Or join their almost 1,400 fans on Facebook who, by the way, actually routinely interact on the site. 

Lauren Oostveen, a project co-ordinator at the archives who has a background in public relations and calls herself a “social media nerd,” started and maintains both channels. The goal is simple, she says: deliver Nova Scotia history in relevant bite-size chunks and, in doing so, offer people a discussion forum where they can share information, ask questions, and learn from one another. 

Carman Pirie, a social media specialist and principal at Kula Partners in Halifax, explains that Oostveen is helping create and fuel a passionate community. “She has successfully made the archives relevant to a whole series of people who would never have known they existed or bothered to access them otherwise.” 

But it didn’t happen overnight. Oostveen has been building her community for more than a year. Success in social media requires consistent high-quality content, patience, and trust that over time, little things can build into something big. “People who are really putting in the time and effort are getting the results they need,” says Joel. “It’s the difference between a one-night stand and trying to get married. It’s not a campaign. It’s a relationship built on trust that has to be nurtured.” 

Kathleen Martin is a freelance journalist based in Halifax. She can be reached at masthead@ns.sympatico.ca.