Have you ever noticed that the social media we know today have the meaning that is quite different for each user? Maybe if it’s about basic definition by only pointing to Facebook and Twitter, everybody would understand immediately but do you ever dig what they actually understand about social media?
Quoting from a conversation with a ex-Yahoo! fellow, Jonas Del Los Reyes who currently resides in the Philippines, you probably can imagine what the situation is here. The quote is as follows, “…our market is still young, definitions are scattered, everyone running with their understanding.” Yes, I think that’s exactly what is happening in this region. I might say it’s chaotic but in a good way.
Maybe you still remember what was done by General Motor (GM) a while ago just before Facebook took the historic step to enter the stock exchange (IPO). GM decided to discontinue its advertising investment on Facebook Ad worth $10 million. GM said that while it decided to stop the investment in advertising, it won’t leave Facebook but would be more focus on content strategy that would keep being distributed via its Facebook Page.
As the most popular platform, Facebook has a large enough number of connected users to make leading brands come to invest in diverse forms, and most of them take the quickest way: advertise. GM did something that arguably made people wonder. Focusing on content and engagement are not the fastest way to grab existing users and potential client.
Back to the condition of social media popularity that makes everyone vying to “plunge” into it sometimes only relying on limited knowledge. Because of this condition then almost everyone is trying to define, mixing, and formulating social media from their own point of views, hoping to optimize this new media. I think GM is going through this phase after they tried, experienced and evaluated then finally decided to focus on content and engagement than on advertising.
Personally, I think GM’s decision is not unsual. Social media, whether it wants it or not, is a form of media which usage would depend on the limitation or focus of said media, and of course adapted to what is needed. Maybe for some readers who had followed the sharing session on Akademi Berbagi still remember that I always use the analogy of Park as a (Social) Media, with the challenges:
1. How to make people want to visit the park?
2. How to make people like our park?
3. How to make people keep coming to the park?
4. How to make the park generate revenue?
Surely, by using this analogy then social media strategy is no longer just a mere campaign or regular advertising with follower’s KPI (which currently even available for trade) but rather how to create a good experience and build loyalty. In other words, we must return to the fundamental community management.
General Motor (GM) has gone through what it judged as ineffective advertising on Facebook. We may disagree but I personally think that with its experience, GM knows and decided what is best for the brand. After GM tried the popular park (Facebook) to advertise, now it wants to go into deeper phase, namely conversation and engagement which in other words is the basics of a community development.
Do you still think social media is a platform for advertising or the means to capture exposure? Maybe you should think more openly. This park is just a vacant lot, popular or not is up to you.
Abang Edwin is a practitioner of online community management since 1998 long before the term social media/social networks become popular. He began his journey by experimenting with several online communities which eventually successful at that, to this day he still gives consultations about knowing character and foster online communities for brands / agencies and individuals.
He was at Yahoo! for over 4 years as a community manager. Currently he is Country Manager – Indonesia for Thoughtbuzz.net, a social media monitoring company.
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[Image: YouAreWeb – Flickr – CC attribution]
