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Why one elephant is better then 17.000 social media experts

If you ask Twitter to find you a social media expert, you will get around 17.000 hits. Isn't that great? All those people out there trying to make a living out of Social Media. I even saw people advertise themselves as Facebook Consultant or Twitter Marketeer. If you are a brand marketeer or a company-owner you should know that you can find succesfull Social Media business cases on websites like www.mashable.com or www.socialmediaexaminer.com. Visit these regularly because It is important for you to understand all that social media stuff so you can make your own SWOT analysis of the new media channels. After all, you also understand what radio is, or a television. If you start reading, learning and understanding Social Media, you will see that you should not be pushing a commercial message through the channels as if it was tv. If you do that, people will not love you very much. Look at Social Media as if you are on a birthday party from a friend of a friend. Would you start a conversation straight away by saying: 'Hi, I sell cars. Wanna buy one? I have a red Corvette on sale, yadiyadi...'. Of course not, you have to gain trust first and the people must think you are a real and genuine person. You meet more new people and you have to get to know them first before you tell them more about yourself. And maybe, just maybe the next time they will ask you if you can help them to find a new car. Most brands and marketeers are so used to send creative messages out in a one-way blast, that they have forgotten 'Why are we doing this?' Elephants never forget anything. Ever. So you have to find an elephant or become one, because you should never forget the story behind your commercial message. Why are you so enthousiastic about your product or service? Tell the world the real authentic story, present them the real people behind the brand, let those people tell the story in their own channels and build upon your virtual reputation. A good story will last forever, is hard to copy and can be used in many creative ways to inform and engage your audience. So they will never forget your story either.

Ab Kuijer works at JuniorSenior and helps companies to understand the new ways of communicating with their audience; social media and a digital dialogue instead of one way messages in traditional channels. JuniorSenior is specialised in young marketing solutions and delivers innovation for the next generation. The headquarter is based in Amsterdam and the world is our playground. Contact ab@juniorsenior.nl for more information or follow @abkuijer