From new to mainstream so fast. That seems to be the evolution of social media.
Recently I was contracted by a webinar publisher to provide content for and lead several of them. As for subject matter, I suggested social media for law firms or small buisnesses. "Of, we already have lots of webinars on that." That was what the screener told me. Fortunately, I had a few other topics I knew I could speak on. They were on the broader issue of developing new business, which entails lots more than having social media down cold.
Five years ago when I began blogging, that was a competitive advantage. Now, of course, not leveraging in a strategic way the best practices of social media is a competitive disadvantage. I just finished a white paper for a communications firm about how government agencies could comply with the spirit and letter of the President's mandate to be more open to the people. It was about multichannel marketing, ranging from old-line advertising to, yes, social media like YouTube. It was not strictly about social media per se.
Nevertheless, social media itself is likely mutating more rapidly than other forms of marketing. A few months ago I researched and ghostwrote a chapter on leveraging it in Campaign 2012. You got it: about 40% of what I wrote is now dated or not accurate. For example, in the California GOP primary the negative social media advertising by Fiorina obviously didn't harm her. She won against the man - Tom Campbell - she panned in the sheep ads.
Lesson: Social media is no longer the magic bullet. Communications pros have to return to a mix of best practices overall and to create their own innovations.
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