Social media has become a huge part of many business strategies, particularly in marketing. It has not, however, been adopted on nearly as widespread of a basis as a pure communications tool. This is a mistake.
The concepts surrounding social media are clear. People connect. They connect with friends and family. They connect with people who share their interests. They connect without borders, boundaries, or logistic-issues associated with connecting in real life. On the tail end of the spectrum, people use social media to connect with businesses.
The problem lies in that businesses aren't truly using social media to connect with people. It's still more of a broadcasting tool than anything else to most businesses and as a result they're missing out on the biggest opportunity that social media provides.
Through communication with the outside world, customers, and internally with employees, social media can find its real use in the business world. It is certainly an effective marketing tool when used properly, but that should be secondary. Communicate first, market second.
This graphic by SocialCast breaks the concept down for us nicely. Click to enlarge.
(via: Soshable)
