That's my question for the week. Though I should probably explain it a bit before sending this out there to have everyone question my romanticism, dexterity, sanity, or hygiene.
Let's start at the beginning. Who has heard that social media is like a cocktail party? Who has heard that it is [like] a conversation? Anyone? Bueller?
By the way, it is a conversation, many, many of them happening at the same big cocktail party. Really. And the cocktail party analogy is more along the lines of not breaking into someone's conversation and immediately start talking about yourself. Nothing with alcohol. (Though I do get quite a few interesting libations on Facebook on a regular basis). And probably not very much to do with "hooking up" with someone. Let's just assume this is a professional networking cocktail party (not your company's holiday party).
OK, so here's where it gets interesting. As everyone speaks at functions on social media and consults everyone to join the conversation, there are few asking of them: "why?" The answer, of course, would be something along the lines of forming a relationship with your customers, target audience, general public, and/or those sympathetic with your cause. Connect with them, share common values and bring value to the "relationship." All well and good. Really. But here is the next question:
"Why?" ... Why do you want to have a relationship with all of those people? Why do you want to "connect" with them?
Let's jump back to the real world analogies. In your personal life, why do you form relationships with those that you do? It may be family, it may be to share common interests, it may be to start to form your own family, it may be to find someone to laugh with. But a lot of people also have business relationships. What do we want from those relationships? At the work place, we aren't seeking out other companies to form relationships with to have a laugh in the middle of the day, or talk about our kids (though a lot of our meetings start that way, don't they?) The relationships we form in business are there to help in some way. A potential client, a networking connection to lean on for advice or a job, subcontractors that can help you get through the next project, etc. In a sense, they are there for our own selfish needs at times. Now, I'm not discounting all the hard work and hazing that goes into forming a business relationship. Just that they are not there strictly for social or esoteric reasons.
But let's go back to dating. The courtship of getting these relationships set up. And let's go to a familiar question: "how many dates do you go on together before you decide it's time to sleep together?" In a sense, when is it time to pull the trigger?
I responded to a comment earlier from Dennis Howlett talking about just this very thing. In that exchange, I used the analogy of having a conversation with your boss to ask for a raise. You are having a conversation, but your goal is to get a raise. Hell, it's probably why you faked a relationship with him/her for this long anyway, right? So there is a goal.
And so, too, do all these companies jumping into the social media space. Sure, there is a good side-effect here in that these companies will listen more, adapt more, and form better relationships. That's the good news. But don't forget, they are in it for something. It's not always more sales, but needless to say, it's something. That something is what we consultants need to help define and then achieve for our clients.
So back to the original question. Once the company has been involved in social media for a while, when is it appropriate to leverage those relationships for what the company's original goals were? When is it appropriate for them to pull the trigger?
In other words, when is it "appropriate" for them to suggest we all go upstairs for a nightcap?
Let's discuss amongst ourselves...
