Because if history is any guide – social networks come and go. Mostly go. So don’t go off and get hitched. As my astute colleague Greg Swan recently noted: “You would think the track record of social network migration (i.e. users emigrating from Compuserve to AOL, AOL to Friendster, Friendster to MySpace, more recently MySpace […]
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Tag Archives: Social Media Consulting
Let’s Count the Ways You’re Screwing Up Social Media
April 9, 2013 
3 Comments
Because the ways are many and varied. If you needed any evidence that brands are doing social media all wrong then look no further than a recent survey sponsored by Ragan’s PR Daily and several partners. The statistics are jaw-dropping: Only 27 percent of brands have a dedicated social media team Sixty-five percent of brands […]
Read moreSocial Media Will Not Cure Cancer
May 15, 2012 7 Comments
One aspect of social media I dislike immensely is the sense of magical thinking hovers about it. Some of the medium’s most rabid advocates possess a spooky evangelical zeal about digital communications. At times it can feel like snake-oil salesmen who promise miraculous cures. That’s why it’s not usual to find bold proclamations that social […]
Read moreThe Tip of the Social Media Iceberg
May 1, 2012 4 Comments
A client recently quipped: “How hard can social media be? All you have to do is write some tweets and status updates. What’s the big deal?” It was difficult to know where to start. Because calling “social media” tweets and status updates is like calling public relations writing press releases or thinking that advertising is […]
Read moreWhat “Social” is Really Supposed to Mean
March 30, 2012 2 Comments
The power of “social” really hit home for me while shopping at Trader Joe’s more than three years ago. At the time, I was drinking a lot of coffee and my favorite was Trader Joe’s Cafe Femenino. It’s an organic, shade grown coffee from Peru and I couldn’t get enough of it. So while shopping […]
Read more1 Lesson on Social Media from a Salami Sandwich
March 20, 2012 0 Comments
This post is a celebration of the absurd. And how all of us can S T R E T C H a metaphor until it snaps. Social media is new – or at least is relatively new – and constantly evolving. It’s a constant battle to explain, justify, and provide context and insight on […]
Read moreHas the Timeline Improved Facebook for Brands?
March 5, 2012 1 Comment
It has – dramatically – if you’re Facebook. For brands, the switch to the Timeline format spells big changes – both good and bad. First the good news. Facebook is placing a premium on storytelling. As my colleague Ben Rissman notes: “This means that brands (more than ever) now need to be storytellers – […]
Read moreAgencies Can Add a Rocket Boost of Social Know-how
February 2, 2012 0 Comments
What do you think sets apart a gold-medal effort in social media from a mediocre one? Is it ideas? Passion? Knowledge? Creativity? Likely those are factors, but most often the difference is more pedestrian: Resources. Most marketing and communications departments continue to be underfunded and understaffed when it comes to social media programs. It’s difficult […]
Read moreTackling the Woes of Social Measurement
January 20, 2012 3 Comments
The biggest woe in social media is measurement. No one has figured it out. There are no standards. There are hundreds of measurement tools. There are all kinds of metrics and statistics that can be measured. The great thing about social media is that you can measure everything, but the worst part of social media […]
Read more Santa Hates You
December 19, 2011 2 Comments
As I often say: the first certainty in social media is that you’ll make a mistake. The second certainty – especially if you’re a business or a brand – is that some know-it-all social media expert will call you out on it. So here’s a bit of Christmas fun for us all. Happy Holidays! […]
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HighTalk by George F. Snell III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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