Social is no longer special

There was a time when you could differentiate yourself just being present in the social sphere. Simply being there and being willing to connect was enough. That’s no longer the case, though. Social is no longer special because your customers now expect to find you there. Today, to differentiate yourself , you have to offer something of value (and I don’t mean the chance to win a free iPad). The answer, then, isn’t simply finding the time to be available via social media. It’s more a matter of making the time you spend on social an extension of the other ways you connect. Your customers won’t give you any extra credit for being available to them, so it’s critical that you’re careful about where, and how, you spend your time.

Since social is no longer special, there’s no value to simply being present. Learning what you shouldn’t do is now just as critical is knowing what you should do.