What is the #1 piece of advice I have for your social media strategist, manager or you — a small business owner managing social media efforts?

The answer is simple: Stop talking about social media.

Type “social media” into a Google search bar and you’ll find roughly about 4.7 billion results in .30 seconds. Next, try “social media conference.” You’ll see something along the lines of 1.2 billion results in .25 seconds. Social media is important but I’d argue we aren’t celebrating it for the reasons we should. Instead, we are forcing social media to conform to traditional thinking and processes rather than adapting business philosophies and supporting methodologies to meet new opportunities.

The Language of Social Media in Context

To earn the attention and respect of co-founders, your company’s stakeholders and ultimately customers you must connect the dots to the very things that every stakeholder values and communicate social media in a way that is approachable and appreciated.[pullquote align=”right”]To earn the attention and respect of co-founders, your company’s stakeholders and ultimately customers you must connect the dots to the very things that every stakeholder values and communicate social media in a way that is approachable and appreciated.[/pullquote] Every day, I hear about how social media enthusiasts are frustrated with the lack of buy-in or support. Yet, many aren’t doing themselves any favors.

So, in the face of skepticism or fear, the best advice that I can offer those that truly believe in the value of their social media efforts is to learn the language of the C-Suite. Making a business case for social media has less to do with Facebook or Twitter or Likes, views or Retweets and more to do with using these networks to glean or introduce value.

To earn the attention and respect of co-founders, your company’s stakeholders and ultimately customers you must connect the dots to the very things that every stakeholder values and communicate social media in a way that is approachable and appreciated.

This takes a thoughtful approach to rendering value in a contextual means that hits home with different people their way.

Does your Social Media Strategy Align with Business Goals?

Altimeter colleague Charlene Li and I conducted a series of research interviews and surveys over the last year on this very topic…how social today’s social media strategies align (or do not align) with business goals. We shared our findings in a newly released report, The Evolution of Social Business Six Stages of Social Media Transformation.

Needless to say, we found a significant gap And, it is this gap that makes communicating the value of social media difficult if not impossible.

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