What is Your Personal Social Media Objective?

I was on television yesterday with KSUI – a local San Diego channel – discussing some of the pros and cons regarding participation in Social Media.

An article was recently published in national and local media on how divorce attorneys are turning to Facebook and other social media sites to uncover incriminating evidence against their clients’ soon to be ex-spouses. Yes, it is a sad commentary of how far we’ve gone with social media – and so quickly. But it is certainly understandable.

As I mentioned in my segment with Sandra Maas (an anchor with KSUI), people perceive a false sense of intimacy when they are communicating via their computers. They are sitting at their desk, or dining room table, often alone, with their computer; not necessary thinking that many thousands of individuals could rather easily access their written musings or enjoy their recent photos from some ill-conceived activity.

I believe people, just as companies, need to consider what their objectives are with social media. What do you wish to accomplish with your participation? Is it finding new friends, folks with similar interests or beliefs? Finding love? Promote your business or interests? Or is it to expose yourself to new things about the world around you? And how much are you willing to reveal about yourself? When these questions are asked, you allow yourself time to reflect on personal feelings regarding privacy and how you wish to be perceived by your family, friends and peers.

Take the time to reflect and figure out your objective with Social Media. It is worth it.

To view the KUSI segment, please use this link.

Differentiation – It’s More Than Just Being Different!

It’s really a fairly easy concept: figure out a way to make your company different from the rest.

The problem is most companies either don’t bother, or end up differentiating themselves along lines about which the target audience could care less.

There are a number of companies that first focus on what they do well. That’s okay as long as their customers really want that. But what if the customers aren’t all that interested in what a company does well?

Then, it’s time to find out what your chosen customers really want and care about. You need to uncover those differentiating points that resonate with the audience, and drive them to your business. And let me fill you in on some key information – rarely is the main resonating point about price. Sure, most folks will mention they want a low price, but when push comes to shove, you will find other, more important issues behind their motivation to purchase.

And once you figure out what excites them, then work on being the first and best at delivering it, and doing it consistently well. This is a whole lot easier than it sounds. But, if your research is correct, and you’ve nailed a key differentiating element that truly resonates with the audience, then it is well worth the effort - and you will capture incremental sales.