4 reasons to start ignoring networks

Posted on April 6th, 2010 by tim bursch. Filed under marketing, presence, social media.


There are a hundred networks you could join these days. Should you? You know your customers are there, interacting and talking about your product or service. But you only have so many hours in a day and this social media stuff takes time.

No one can be everywhere at once or have a real presence on every network. So, here are 4 reasons to start ignoring customers networks:

  1. If you try to be everywhere, you end up really being nowhere. You spend a little time on a lot of networks and end up diluting your brand.
  2. Relationships. If you don’t really invest time in one community you will probably only have transactions, instead of long-term relationships.
  3. It’s about them. Your fans want to interact and it is about them. So, focus on them well.
  4. You can’t please everyone. Some people will be missed. If you have something remarkable, people will find you.

I think a better strategy is to focus on a few networks really well and build those communities.
What do you think?



  • I want to fully agree with what you say, but I find it harder than said. One thing is that every community changes, so do we. According to my experience, if I stick to a particular group for more than a year I start looking "inward," closing opportunities from outside and more dangerously, narrow my mindset. I think you are spot-on that if we try to be everywhere we end up nowhere. But I also think we need to constantly expand, rethink, and reduce our networks.
  • Good point on possibly becoming stale. This can apply to a business and individual. Make sure you are not getting stuck in a rut while keeping some kind of focus. Thank you for sharing!
  • What about tools that monitor multiple channels? http://gist.com comes to mind. Or http://brizzly.com For video there are also tools like http://blip.tv

    Though I cant speak to the level of interaction... There is certainly benefits to multi-channel distribution.

    My strategy, which I have yet to fully implement, is to blast information everywhere and focus on communities where it 'sticks' (usually the heavyweight platforms).

    Having said all that, I agree 100% with this post. Well done.
  • Jason,
    Thanks for your contribution. I hear you on broadcasting. You seem to have that figured out. It seems like a message/brand will stick with communities that it connects with. All of this takes time and energy and people like you helping business navigate.
    Cheers,
    Tim
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