Squirrely Social Media Strategies Lead to Road Kill

I can't imagine that there would be few of us who have not had a squirrel run across the road while we are driving.  What is even worse is when they sit there in the road and start darting back and forth which puts you as the driver in an avoidance situation that typically winds up bad for the squirrel who has no idea which direction to run.  The end result is usually roadkill.

So I hope you can visualize where this is going. Social media strategies need a clear confident direction.  Yes, I am using the word strategy even though in a previous post I talked about how it's a bit overused.  In the context of this article, it's necessary though.  You just can't jump on board every new social media platform, get your username and password and hope some magic pixie dust floats your way to achieve any results.

You absolutely need to your approach one step at a time, especially if you have little or no experience in digital marketing and outreach.  Take what I do for the company I work for, The Training Factor.  I started out using LinkedIn, learned what it was all about, joined discussion groups and started participating in what was unknown territory for me at the time in the apartment industry. After I got comfortable with that one I moved on to Facebook, then Twitter and so on. I took the time to see how others were using it and what worked and what did not. I ascertained who it was I wanted to reach and made sure they were using these sites, and then it moved on to real conversations and interactions with everyone.

You absolutely cannot look at any social media platform as the magic wand that will drive your success. Think of these platforms like you would a car.  The vehicle itself may be impressive and may have a ton of power but it's not going anywhere unless someone gets in it, turns it on, and drives it to the desired destination.  These are all things you need to think about and evaluate for your particular business model.

I have seen many businesses really do a good job at this and some who in my opinion look like road kill. We don't want to wind up like the poor little squirrel that has no sense of direction.  Find your direction and make your strategy a success.

Please share any squirrely thoughts you have down below in the comments section. I would love your take on what is necessary for businesses to have a clear direction when using social media.