Have you noticed a change happening lately in social media?
Brands are beginning to take control of their social media destiny. They’re ditching the averages, the best-time-to-tweet rules and best practices and doing what works for them. And it’s about time.
Why is it happening now? Because we’re not average, and neither are our brands.
But that’s how social media has been treated for a long time. Our standards and best practices have been formed by a handful of bloggers and “experts” who are often working with data that’s either too big (like firehose data from Twitter’s API) or too small (like case studies that don’t translate to all brands).
No matter what the conventional wisdom is, it won’t work for everyone. You may not want to hear from your favorite coffee shop at night, or get updates from Jack Daniels at 8 a.m. (unless you’re a truly exceptional person and imbiber, in which case you should probably be working with us at Raven). What you say – and when and how you say it – has to fit your brand.
Knowing some averages can help you out in the beginning, but we can’t stay there. It’s up to all of us as social media practitioners to measure using our individual analytics, make changes and constantly keep improving for our own brands. When we do that, we create a brand-specific social media strategy that doesn’t rely on averages and rules but instead focuses on our audience and goals. That’s the kind of strategy that’s built to last.
One of the voices spurring on this new independence is Jason Falls of Social Media Explorer, who you can see being interviewed here by Social Media Examiner on this very topic: debunking the rules of social media.
We at Raven Tools are right there with Jason – literally. We’re the premier sponsor of all 5 of his Explore events across America this year.
But we’re also with Jason on this philosophy. In fact, I’ve been preaching about breaking the rules for a while now.
Earlier this month, I was lucky enough to speak at Jason’s Explore event in Nashville, and I focused my session on just this idea: breaking the rules and creating your own social media strategy.
You can check out my slides below, and then let me know what rules you’re breaking!
Now social media marketers can get the credit they deserve by automatically delivering Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn reports that prove value.
Great post! I think the testing is a really critical piece of determining what’s really working. Having data to prove something vs. going with your gut is important to see how your activities are “moving the needle”. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Melissa! I agree about the importance of testing. Would love to hear about any tests you’ve done that have helped you set the course for your social media strategy!