The Right Tool For The Job

As I watch my two year old son head over to his work bench to grab a tool to help dear old dad out with fixing something around the house, I’m reminded of something that my father had always preached to me as he tried to help me develop my skills as a “handy man”. There is always the right tool for the job. My son, whom I’ve never formally passed along this knowledge to, yet, heads over to the bench, peruses the pegboard full of tools with his hand placed on his chin, and grabs for the tool that, in his mind, is going to do the job most effectively. Now, sometimes that may end up being a wrench to tighten a bolt but more often than not, it’s a hammer to tighten a screw. It may eventually solve the problem, but definitely not the most effectively.

I feel that, all too often, this mentality takes reign in our industry, especially in the social media realm.  It’s far too easy for brands to jump on board this train and start generating content in these spaces with no specific goal in mind. Yes, they’re creating a presence because they think they have to but to what effect. As marketers, we need to better assess the goals of a brand and develop a clear path when going social, or if it really is the right thing to do for our brands. Does a company in a niche industry need to have a Facebook presence when, more than likely, they’ll only have something to post about once a every few weeks. Probably not. Conversely, should a very present company, whose efforts have a big impact on an industry have no presence at all, not even a blog.

Ultimately, I’m just trying to emphasize the fact that all brands need to make an assessment of their social media presence, develop clear cut goals for how it is going to be used and activate that plan accordingly. We need to help curb the mentality that a hammer can fix any problem.