Social Media is Not a Silo

I am increasingly alarmed at how marketers view social media. As a social media strategist, department heads will come and ask "what can we do with social media." Hm, well...

In case you aren't living in the 21st century, "social media" isn't a medium unto itself, its just the current state of the web. We are experiencing an iteration of the internet, one that has become connected, portable--socialized.

Second, to think of social media in this way, as a silo or channel unto itself for a particular marketing campaign is to completely miss the boat on what social media actually is and how it affects/enhances our online/offline lives. Any "social media" strategy ought to be part of the holistic program-- to simply want to tack on social media to a campaign is like tacking on building a microsite at the last minute, it just doesn't make any sense. Social media strategy is not an afterthought-- its crucial to the success of your creative and digital assets; it extends the life of offline initiatives; and it can operate as the glue between all other digital aspects of a campaign.

Now, can we drop "social media" now and just call it what it is...THE WEB.