Social Media Is The MMA Of Technology

I like Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). While some people see MMA bouts as glorified cock fights, I can appreciate the idea behind it. MMA is what it says it is: a blend of various martial arts.

In the same way, social media can be seen as a blend of various diverse technologies, such as publishing platforms, social networks, web applications and search. Being a proficient social media practitioner requires mastery of multiple disciplines.

Are you a black belt? Go through the various social media disciplines. See where you can sharpen your skills to improve overall performance.

The Fly On The Wall

In reference to last month’s post about apathy, I’d like to extend some more thoughts about consumer feedback. While negative comments might be actionable, they’re only actionable if you listen.

Have you set up listening tools, such as Google Alerts, or are your agencies/partners listening to the feedback that is given in your consumer community? Are you actively searching for mentions of your brand/product/service or even actively reaching out to the community to provide feedback to you?

Your community of consumers has a lot to say and has a lot of platforms to say it on. Stay on top of the content related to you and take what’s being said into consideration.

Listen. Validate. Act.

The Evolution of Content

We’ve come a long way in how content is being presented. Whereas content used to be published by predominantly professionals, consumers are now able to publish content themselves. The form of content has also evolved from a more broadcasting-oriented form to a more dialogue-oriented form.

Traditional media, such as TV stations and print publishers, are seeing consumption decline as consumers choose consume their content from a more diverse set of channels. Traditional media agencies, such as advertising agencies and PR agencies, are scrambling to keep up and justify their value/existence/involvement. Sometimes, the old business models won’t work in this new day and age, sometimes the talent isn’t available to deal with new media forms or the current regime is reluctant to change or in denial about the consequences. None of these are good reasons to continue “business as usual”. The world is changing and it requires a new approach.

Start preparing yourself to cope with the evolution of content.