All too frequently I encounter someone who says, "So-and-so is doing my social media for me." Usually what that means is that they have someone else doing the same old non-productive Facebook-Twitter-LInkedIn-etc routine instead of doing it themselves.
The first problem is that getting someone else to do non-productive activities doesn't make them any more productive.
The second problem is that outsourcing social media doesn't make it very social does it? The real power of social media is it's ability to create and nurture relationships. Using Facebook and Twitter to publish marketing messages every few hours is not going to endear you to your audience. Over time they will drift away and your messages will be doing nothing more than adding entropy to the universe.
Social Media IS a powerful tool. We just need to be smart about how we use it. Stop treating it as a broadsword and start using it like a surgical instrument.
Focus on your customers and the problem you solve for them. Focus on their mental journey from "I need to solve this problem" to the point where they write you a check. How did they find you? How did they pick you over your competitors? Pinpoint the specific areas of this process that you can facilitate. Then and only then are you in a position to pick a specific tool (Facebook, Twitter, etc) and a specific activity you should be doing.
