I spend considerable time in the world of social media listening and analytics. Like an air traffic controller making sure everyone gets the help they need to prevent a social crash. I hear the voice of the customer, making it easy to get dragged into social minutiae: it becomes second nature. Never forget there is a person with an audience behind each decision, and there’s always more to a post than just words. Then there is my other life: Teaching social media management and the future of business.
When someone pulls back the invisible cloak of social media – something they know about, but perhaps never realized the full potential of, the metaphoric “light” goes on. The process has started and anything becomes possible. The questions start. I am challenged, and love it. How do you start to engage, build a strategy, a team, select tools, develop analytics that tie to business goals and how do you explain social to others? It reminds me of the need to explain the basics in a way that allows individuals to discover for themselves the power of social media today and what wearables, beacons, big data will mean for tomorrow. They will follow their own path and get their victories (and some days that just hurt).
Talking about location, beacons, wearables, 3D printing, virtual reality and augmented reality open a whole new world of amazing possibilities.
Regardless of what we each do for a living, it enriches us to step back and look at the nuances that have become second nature. Ultimately, I learn more and am better at what I do because I have been given the privilege of teaching and learning from others.
