Does Anyone Understand Social Media?

Social media is on quest for world domination and as marketers it’s time we get in the game. In an effort to do just that, Summit Marketing sent me to an all day social media seminar last Friday. The presenter was a high-octane gentleman that was a dead ringer for comedian Bobby Slayton. Oddly, the last time I attended training with Career Track I was certain the presenter was Philip Seymour Hoffman (Is this what celebrity impersonators do in their spare time?).

The class itself was interesting and informational covering Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, LinkedIn, YouTube, Groupon, LivingSocial, Gowalla and more. However, the most important insights I gleaned were not from the faux Bobby Slayton, but my fellow seminar attendees. It’s not that Mr. Slayton wasn’t fascinating, he had relevant stories filled with humor and lessons as well as an engaging delivery with a contagious energy. The truth of the matter is that the other attendees were there because they were lost and confused in this daunting world of online connections and that made their stories honest and personal.

It was these stories of trepidation and misunderstanding from the frustrated attendees that made me realize just how convoluted and confusing social media is to the average business. They were each confident that their audience was using social media, but very few had any idea of how to connect with that audience and convert them into advocates. Many of them even outright stated that they needed help because they were just too overwhelmed by it all. The fact that social media is evolving daily just makes it that much more complicated to keep up.

So, does anyone understand social media? Yes, we do. And we have already started the push to prove it to our audience. Watch for dramatic developments in our own social media presence over the next few months as we expand our offerings and better position Summit Marketing as the total solutions partner!