Social Media Should Stop Being So Damn Tactical

The reason there are a lot of self-labeled social media experts and gurus is that people continually confuse tactics for strategy. Tactics are easy. A book on best practices will teach you 80% of what you need to know. Strategy, on the other hand, requires a blend of creativity and a ruthless determination for finding insights.

There's a place for social media best practices, and there's a place for individuals who can setup a social profile in the blink of an eye. But it's a small place. It's not an exciting place.

The real value of social media is that it gets people to think about their business problems differently. It makes companies think about their interactions with their customers and puts more emphasis on the customer experience. It provides an outlet for creative thinking, and sometimes even fosters solutions that make things better.

The reality is you don't need a social media expert teaching you tactics. Chances are you might not need a blog, a Flickr account, or even a Twitter feed. What you do need are more strategic ideas.

Use this current social media frenzy as an opportunity to rethink your interactions with your customers and gain insight on your brand. Sometimes you'll find an answer in social media, but just sometimes.