relevance

Our shift from the industrial age to the information age has been led through our ability to make better-informed decisions. To achieve a competitive advantage we have had to have instant access to real-time information, harness our collective expertise and intellectual property and ensure we are nimble and efficient when adapting to change. Technology has played a starring role in this transformation, however, we are rapidly realising that the value of technology goes beyond chips, computers or software.

The industrial age was characterised by economies of scale through standardisation, retrospective measurements such as ROI and market penetration through demand creation. The information age has seen a shift, led in part through changing consumer behaviour and expectations. We are increasingly living, working and interacting in real-time.

It is estimated that within a year the amount of digital information in the world will double every 11 hours. This information is largely unstructured and will be produced in a multitude of formats, originating from an ever-increasing number of intelligent devices. To stay informed and nimble we need to change the way we structure our organisations and analyse our data.

Capturing, processing and analysing relevant data so it is seen in context and helps direct and inform decisions is essential. The ability to recognise patterns, to analyse content in motion and present this information so it allows for effective management and decision-making is the new competitive advantage. Managing your content through a permissions based hierarchy so it can inform, grow, have value added to it and be accessed when and where it is needed is an organisation’s new intellectual property.

Social media has an important role to play within this eco-system. The collaborative and real-time essence of social media, be it across open or closed networks fuels the information age. The tools and thinking behind social media, applied in relation to an organisation’s unique business rules and objectives drives this shift.

In this context, social media is not just about brand or reputation management. It is about giving organisations the tools they need to succeed in an age where change is rapid, collaboration essential and expectations are real-time.

Photo by The Rocketeer

Start at the Beginning

It is great to have opinions. It is also a good idea to seek out and learn from other peoples perspectives. What is important is to apply what you have learned in a manner that ensures relevance and context. I used to be an Apple evangelist. I still love Apple and it is my weapon of choice, but I stopped a while ago trying to convert those that use PC. I can see that I was trying to prescribe a technology based upon my own criteria. My own needs, likes, values and learning styles. Really the choice should be based upon:

Who you are
Your objectives
Your needs
Your learning styles
Your resources
Your history etc.

That is not to say Apple evangelists cannot put a case forward for why they like to use Apple products, but it does mean that they need to listen to and accept other peoples decisions and reasons for using a PC. Based on this, if I am asked to recommend a laptop for someone, I need to base my recommendations on their needs verses my own.

I made this mistake in my last blog post “The politics of Followers”. The blog talked about my personal take on the collection of followers on a social network like Twitter. I feel it broke my own rules around discovery, context and relevance.

A personal or organisational social media strategy cannot be pre-determined. It really does need to be built according to the organisations or person’s unique objectives. It needs to understand its audiences and it needs to work within the boundaries of its resources. It is conceivable that an element of an organisations marketing strategy might include manipulating a large twitter following. Perhaps there are instances where they might not gain much from their actual followers, but more from the perception from those outside Twitter that they have a large buy in? Whatever the reason, it is reasonable to assume this is a considered strategy.

It is great to get people’s perceptions on various social networks and to understand how they are using them. Valuable insights and best practices can be learned. The problem arises when people take a prescriptive view of them. Following someone’s strategy to the letter can lead to copycat strategies that go horribly wrong. Context and relevance are key. Start at the beginning, be patient and go through your discovery process.

Photo by Craig Rodway

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Social Media, a Vehicle to Organisational Change