Filtering isn't enough: Why your social media strategy failed

November 26, 2009 by ian

Filtering isn't enough. 99% of social media users don't get it, though, so their attempts at outreach fail.

Filters are passive. Some stuff passes through. Some stuff doesn't. But a filter doesn't add anything.

Most bloggers grab lots of links, post 'em up on the page and leave it be. Or they write something like "This is a great post!".

Commenters do the same thing. So do most Twitterers.

And tools like StumbleUpon, much as I love them, can encourage us to do the same thing. Click. Stumble. Bookmark. Move on.

That turns 90% of blog posts, bookmarked content and Twitter traffic into near-useless duplication.

Avoid being a filter, get more attention

Want to get real attention? Add something to the conversation (that's why I called it Conversation Marketing way back when).

If you bookmark, write why you bookmarked it.
If you write a list of links, add why each link deserved to be part of the list.
If you like a blog post, don't just copy it to your site. Copy a snippet, then write why you agree, and/or why you disagree.
Think: If you could, what would you ask the author of whatever you just read/watched/heard? Write that down.

And, to make you truly thankful, I'll stop there. Have a great Thanksgiving!