Hard to believe social media has been around for more than ten years.  You would think by now more businesses would be using it.  Could it be most businesses still don’t believe in a social style of marketing really working…or will work for them?

The question, What is Social Media, has been asked a large number of times over the years and each time there is a change made in the world of online social networking the question is asked again.  The issue on how social media is best used remains the same after all these years and what remains constant over time is still most businesses just do not know how to be social.  The root cause resides with the fact most businesses lack the interest in being social. 

Over time the lack of understanding how social networking works turned into businesses developing the belief there is NO ROI in social networking.  From there the drums from both sides of this debate started pounding out articles saying how social media can improve business or saying how much bunk there is to using social media. 

What has been found to be very true is social media works for some and doesn’t for others.  However, what is overlooked is the fact that social media would work for more businesses if they knew how to use social media and once learned dedicate ample time and resources needed for the social media to become the mainstay of their marketing campaign.

The Bottomline: 

Businesses want immediate profits from their marketing campaigns.   Consumers are looking to the internet to find out who they can trust in the business world.  There is still a complete disconnect between businesses and consumer since the message being delivered is not what the consumer is looking for.  Businesses have to understand what social media is and how it works in order to benefit from its value.  Businesses have to learn that social is being personable and media is how that the personable message is delivered. 

Pretty simple, once you understand what social is.  Hope more businesses learn this quickly and not waste another 10 years arguing how social media will not work.  Let me know how I can help.