If you are reading this and profess to have some expertise in Social Media, then you may be offended by my next comment: it soon won’t matter, and your “expertise” is fast becoming irrelevant. Your long term career is in jeopardy, and your short term prospects are also questionable.
Note that I didn’t say that Social Media is becoming irrelevant; exactly the opposite is true. If you value your Social Media expertise, consider the impact of these two converging trends:
- The general population – and certainly the business world – is fast approaching your level of knowledge. No one will be willing to listen to (or pay) for common knowledge.
- There is a dramatic shift from learning about Social Media, to learning about how Social Media can support real business goals. Core expertise (Strategy, Marketing, Finance, Sales, HR, Operations, etc.) has enduring value much more so than expertise on using a tool. While it is true that some people make their living as driving instructors (tool: car) and call center trainers (tool: telephone), at best these are niche professions.
This Week’s Action Plan: Unless you see your long-term career as a Social Media expert, it’s time to focus on the basics of your expertise, and not just a single tool of your trade, Social Media. This week, consider where you’re spending your time: If you’re spending too much time on the tools and not enough getting better in your core, then flip your priorities… or eventually become irrelevant.
Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.RandallCraig.com to register.
Randall Craig
www.RandallCraig.com
www.ptadvisors.com
www.ProfessionallySpeakingTV.com
Chances are that you know how to drive, but cannot fix the engine. Eighty-five years ago, however, the answer would have been different.
Motoring enthusiasts back in the 1930′s and 1940′s had to know the basics of automotive repair and troubleshooting, as the “newfangled” cars often broke down, needed constant tune-ups, and were not quite as reliable as cars today. At a certain point, however, cars became more reliable; they became more technically sophisticated, and car repair became more specialized knowledge. You were either a Driver, or an Auto Mechanic.
Today, social media has reached a similar tipping point. The knowledge of how Social Media is wired behind the scenes, how to integrate them, and how they should be properly bound to a corporate strategy is fast becoming specialist knowledge. Yet, at the same time, there is also an expectation of a minimal communal literacy: “people” know how to drive the car, use the phone… and use YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Despite the incredible number of users, it is dangerous to assume they are comfortable with these new tools, let alone engaged with them. Communal literacy assumes everyone – and every group – is at the same level. The reality is that different groups may have vastly different levels of understanding: older users might not have knowledge of LinkedIn; newcomers may be familiar with sites more prevalent back home; smaller communities might use the same tools but in different ways. To “Drive” your message home – and engage your audience – requires an approach that recognizes that communal literacy doesn’t mean complete literacy. Every group – and every individual – is different.
This week’s action plan:
You probably have an area of specialty that has taken a career to learn. The next time you present your ideas to a group, consider whether the audience needs to be auto mechanics, or merely drivers to understand what you say. In other words, what is the communal literacy of the group? You’ll generate buy-in when you’re neither patronizing nor overly complex.
Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.RandallCraig.com to register.
Randall Craig
www.RandallCraig.com
www.ptadvisors.com
