I happened to read a short article on Marketing Pilgrim that hit on one of the main failings that we can have as online marketers (in this particular case, it pertains to usage of Social Media sites).
There are a lot of different ways to approach social media marketing. Still it seems many marketers are unwilling to engage with social media services while desiring the benefits the media represents.
Too often, we try to reap all of the benefits of a service without really using the service properly. Social media sites thrive off of community and sharing, not just showing up when you write a new blog post that you want to try and linkbait.
In the case of this blog, I too am guilty. I add my content to social media sites, but I don’t really participate at the level that is intended (and that would be most beneficial). If I were to actually become a larger part of the [insert social media network name here] community, it would add more relevancy and meaning to the content that I add myself.
The sad (and funny) part is that I think we all know that this is true. We’re just always too invested in the here-and-now of a project or site to always realize that the long term benefits of proper usage almost always outweigh the short term attempts at using a service.
I am going to work on my longer term community building skills on social media sites and I urge you to also. It will be much more helpful to you in the long run than just posting a Digg of your own content!
March 28th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Nice post, you got the gist of what I wanted to say. I wish you the best of luck in participating in which ever social media communities you prefer, I am sure they will be better for your involvement.
Roderick.