There’s a 96-inch long white board in my office. It is where I collect my thoughts for specific projects as I’m writing, planning or producing them. It is currently full of lists and reminders for a client’s digital marketing and social media strategic plan. I go through notes from client meetings, make lists of potential strategics or tactics, throw broad concepts and ideas up, enumerate client concerns, brand values and relevant research and then I study the board for a while.
“We wanna blog!” was the cattle cry from brands and businesses in 2007. Then it was a Facebook page. Now it’s Twitter. If that was you and your social media advisor’s reaction was to go launch your blog/Facebook/Twitter, you’re probably wondering why you haven’t gotten anywhere with it yet.
Part of a social media consultant’s job is to listen to the brand or company’s desires and ask, “Why?” You don’t just blog. You don’t just start Facebook-ing or Twittering. If you do, you won’t get anywhere with them. Why? Because you don’t know where you’re going.