Social Media Easy Button… or Not!?

How many different ways can we say it before it finally sinks in as truth?

There is no easy button for social media.

There is no fast track.

There is no magic social media pill.

There is no magic carpet ride.

Facebook will not fix your broken business.

A social party is already happening in your honor, regardless if you're there or not.

It's not about the next big thing.

It's not about you.

You must know your audience.

You must set goals.

You must integrate social into the DNA of your business.

You must deal with the skeletons in the closet, and fast!

You must focus on the needs of your audience.

You must help them solve their problems.

You need to create compelling content.

You need to get in the head of your target audience.

You need to inspire and connect with your audience.

You need to nurture relationships.

You need to read, understand and learn from your Google Analytics and Facebook insights.

Email is not dead yet. You can use it to nurture real relationships, not just spam prospects.

Social media is not a tool for you to blast your brand messages over and over. That is called spam.

Spam is not cool. It sucks. It makes you look like you suck when you do it.

You can not create “buzz” without a community and people to “buzz” for you.

The analogy of “buzz” has it's origins in bees buzzing in a colony. If you don't have a community, you don't have a colony and therefore, have nobody to buzz with, for or about you.

I could write a book on the above same tips and truths. If I had $1,000 for every day I am required to speak them to business leaders, let's just say I wouldn't be writing this post. I would definitely be sitting on a warm beach somewhere with my toes in the sand and an umbrella drink in hand.

I speak the above words into the lives of business leaders we work with daily. Why? Because social business is hard to understand. It is hard for even the smartest people on the planet to understand that there is no easy button to social media or social business.

The Heartbeat of Social Media

There is only one button and that is people. The heartbeat of social media, social business, planning, integration, goals, objectives, measurement, content, ROI, ROR (return on relationships), marketing, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, blogs, and more is you. It's you and me and everyone else out there. It's people. It's human beings behind the avatars that keep the heart beating, not the spam links and self promotion, automated Twitter and Facebook accounts.

If you are struggling with how to “create buzz” for your next promotion, campaign or big sale, maybe you need to change your thinking. QUIT focusing on only the buzz, how loud you can shout and focus on who is listening to you.

Does anyone care what you have to say? Are you saying, tweeting, posting, Facebooking, pinning anything worth value? Is anyone listening on the other end? Is it bringing the people hearing it closer to you and your brand or pushing them away?

If you don't focus on providing the most relevant content you possibly can and building community based on real relationships, the chance you are ever going to make it out of “buzz wanna be hell” is slim to none.

The heartbeat of social media is you and me. It's people. It's human. It's humans talking together, working together, learning together, succeeding together, living life together.

There is no fast track to social buzz. There is only one track and that is the investment in the heartbeat, which is you and me.

You can never go wrong by investing in people, period.

If you clicked to this blog post thinking you were going to find the “easy button” I have likely let you down, maybe even ticked you off.

However, I encourage you to take a deep breath. Re-read this entire post but with an open mind.  Try to take this entire post to heart, deep within your heart and brain. Do this with all your might and I guarantee you within a few days, weeks, months or maybe even years you will remember it.

You may continue searching the next two years for the easy button. You may call me names today. You may say I am just trying to complicate your life and business.  However, I know I am right and you are wrong.

I know at some point in time you will remember this post and you will wish you would have listened to me. Why not do it now? Quit looking for the easy button. You will never find it. Take the same time and focus on the heartbeat of social media. Focus on how you can contribute to the positive beating heart of the social ecosystem. Try it and you might be simply blown away at your results… and possibly even the buzz you think you so desperately need today ;)

What You Say? 

Are you looking for an easy button? Did you at one time seek it? Did you finally realize it does not exist? Do you need help in ending your search for it? How can you help others in the same boat you use to be in? Share your thoughts below in the comments. The sooner we can help those holding on to the journey to the “easy button” the better we will all be.

Heartbeat of Social Media Series

This blog post is part of a series titled “The Heartbeat of Social Media“. It includes a deep look at how communities work, what people are doing within them and how businesses can better understand how they can fit in, provide value and derive benefit as both a business as well as individual people.

Subscribe to the series for updates and access to special videos, webinar training and more. Would love to hear your input and have you participate in discussions and debates as we challenge each other to be part of what makes the social network heartbeat healthy and alive!