Three Keys to Social Media Success…But Are They Enough?
11.06.2009 | Chris BaileyRecently, Aaron Strout at the Powered blog wrote about three absolute musts for social media success: authenticity, credibility, and transparency (otherwise known as the ACT trifecta).
I dig Aaron’s work and how he thinks about the impact of social media, but there was something that needled at me while I read his post. By the end, a question formed that continues to tumble around in my head: are authenticity, credibility, and transparency enough? Let’s create a hypothetical company, one that exemplifies each of the ACT qualities. They are open, honest, and human in their interactions. These are important features and we should begin to expect them from the companies we engage with. But something just feels like its missing.
In my comment to the post, I tossed out another quality (or actually it might be more of a condition) for success: amplification. I know of many companies and individuals who embody authenticity, credibility, and transparency in their work…yet they remain in the shadows while the companies that already have the spotlight such as JetBlue, Zappos, Ford and Best Buy receive attention.
What do you think? Is authenticity, credibility, and transparency enough to garner success in social media? Or is there something missing that needs to be added to the discussion?
4 Responses to “Three Keys to Social Media Success…But Are They Enough?”
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Chris – I like your critical thinking here. I would argue that there are other important elements that I could have included (like strategy, measurement and great content) but I do like your concept of “amplification.” There is the age old question of “if a tree falls in the forrest and nobody is around to witness it, does it make a noise?” The corollary here is that you can be totally authentic, transparent and credible but if nobody knows about it, who cares.
Thanks for keeping me honest (and taking a thoughtful approach to asking the question).
Best,
Aaron
Definitely not enough. That's like the whole conversation doing the rounds in the association blogosphere about relevance – it's just not enough. You need awesomeness. You need personality. You need humanity.
Aaron, appreciate your response. I think maybe this highlights common ground I think we both might be moving toward: authenticity, credibility, and transparency within the organization are preconditions for social media success, but alone may not yield success. An organization also needs to create a stage in which its message can be heard clearly…plus have a finely-tuned strategy which includes content planning and appropriate measurements (among other things).
Makes it a little more complex, but then no one (at least with any credibility) ever said success in social media efforts was going to be a walk in the park.
Maddie, I guess my thought is that I don't know if having awesomeness, personality, and humanity is enough either. We know plenty of people who have these qualities but can't square them with success in social media (or business, as well). As I commented to Aaron above, these qualities you mention could be preconditions, but alone don't guarantee that anyone will pay attention to your efforts.