"Social media is a channel, not a brand strategy," is one of the '6 Tips for Successfully Navigating the Rough Waters of Branding.' (click on the infographic below)
Nevertheless, when it comes to brands, customer/end-user engagement, and true interactivity, some smart brands are already thinking ahead; they are engaging heavily with their younger demographic (considering the youth's obsession with social media), while realizing their younger demographic will soon grow up and head up some of the industries these same brands will interact with one day. But who said social media is just a playground for the young and immature? A new Pew study shows that over the past year the sharpest increase in social networking has been among the over-50 population.
Obviously social media is not a fad. And if you can't beat it, you join it. This is the attitude of most brands/businesses who are now shuffling to 'get into' social media. Surely, just having a Twitter account or a Facebook Page alone is not going to cut it. They along with others who have yet to 'jump in' are reevaluating their strategy. Some are actually very intimidated, or have no time, or other excuses given their passive-aggressive behavior. But why you should be doing it takes precedence over what you should be doing.
The so-called social media 'experts' are not helping either. Their all or nothing attitude of 'interactivity' at the expense of strictly online campaign/engagement is not really working. Interactive marketing and true audience/customer/end-user engagement (or relationship development) need to be treated by healthy doses and the right mix of online and onsite offerings concurrently.
And in order to re-introduce these 'helpless' brands to social media, branding and/or sponsorship agents should offer trial runs (with the proper mix of online and onsite events) and present relevant post-trial results, while laying out the the need for an ongoing strategy for them. Just telling them what to do is not enough; you have to do it for them!