I admit it. Social media confounds me a little. I’m a little old world, old school. As a writer, I love the feel of a freshly sharpened HB on crisp 24 lb bond. I love the end of the work day/week when the tech tools fade into the background for a few hours or days. I don’t even have an HD television (yet).

We humans find comfort in routines, and our very nature means we revert to doing things the way we always did. It’s the easiest route. When change pulls us into a new, often unknown realm, it takes some time. Some require more time than others. And I admit it has taken some time for me to begin to “get” the role of social media.

This week, I got a little smarter about understanding social media, in the context of marketing communications, after AdFarm Guelph hosted the agri-food community to showcase Josh Lysne in an informal session on how social media fits into marketing communication strategies.

Here are five new things I learned about social media:

1. Social media is more about communications than it is about tools.

2. Social media is one part of an integrated communication plan.

3. If you don’t know why you are doing social media, you are wasting your time.

4. Social media starts with a strategy – an opportunity or perhaps a hurdle to overcome.

5. Social media requires the same discipline as any other communication tactic.

Perhaps the best information I walked away with to move me along the social media change continuum is that social media is not a brand new (see also strange and unknown) communication model. What we already know and practice in communications applies equally to new tools like social media. Create a relevant message, send it to an appropriate/interested audience, check that the message was received and, based on feedback, adjust the conversation as necessary.

For more information about social media strategy, contact josh.lysne@adfarmonline.com