The number of definitions of social media typically equals the number of people in the discussion. During the past couple of years in my role chairing the SIIA's Social Media Action Committee, I've had numerous discussions with peers about "social media". And what I've found is that the lack of clear definitions leads to frustration and confusion.
In an effort to simplify that, whenever I'm now engaged in a broad discussion of social media, I start with the question "my place or yours?" In other words, are you looking to add social media capabilities (communities, user-generated content, etc) to your existing site or are you looking for ways to play on the social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter?
That one question immediately simplifies everything that follows. So, when do you look to add social media tools to your site and when do you go play on the platforms?
Think about your goals to start. Do you have an existing audience of users whom you're looking to engage? Are you trying to increase page views and time spent on your site by your existing readers? Adding social media tools to your site to enable information sharing, commenting or linking by your users can help you achieve that.
Are you looking to reach a new audience, perhaps a different demographic than you currently reach? That's where the external platforms come in. Build a Facebook widget, create a LinkedIn group or share useful information via Twitter. You'll attract new users who may otherwise not be familiar with your brand.
There are dozens of use cases for how you can help achieve your business goals through social media. But the starting point is always in defining those goals and matching them to the right sets of tools.
So, at the next industry conference, when you ask me about social media, don't be offended when I ask you "my place or yours?".
