An interesting idea was introduced to me in class (of all places) this week by an unusual professor: Jennifer Osbon, new life coach at the Terry College of Business. I say life coach because Ms. Osbon isn't a professor, a lecturer, or a researcher. In fact, at Georgia's premier public research university, she seems a little out of place at the front of the class room. I think she likes it that way. She's interactive, informal, engaging, and informed--she's a social media aficionado. And she's seeing to it that the eighty students in her classroom enter the workforce ready to add value and build brands one impression at a time.
What Ms. Osbon told me is a new framework for interpreting the role of social media: the platforms aren't the main goal, they're the means. Like a company doesn't say, "Boy do I want a thirty second TV spot of static!" neither should they assume that it's enough to post to Facebook, Pintrest, Twitter, or any other social media platform without a strategy. To companies looking to enter the social realm, platforms are gathering places, living rooms where consumers can meet as friends and the brand can be the informal host. We're all tired of brands that treat social as they do traditional media--like a high chair in which consumers are strapped in and spooned content whether they like it or not. Connection is the key, because if a consumer can't connect with a brand where they connect with their peers, they'll leave.
