When we do strategic creative sessions, similes are tremendously powerful tools to allow session participants to make strategic connections between familiar and potentially less familiar concepts. These strategic connections quickly open up new thinking and lead to significant innovations. Here are similes addressing aspects of social media. Some of these similes have surfaced already as Brainzooming blog posts. Others will likely find their way into future blog posts to potentially unlock new strategic thinking possibilities. Some may send younger readers to Wikipedia since the intent is to make connections more tenured business executives will remember!
- Facebook is like television - it gets people to sit and stare at a screen fo
r hours. - Twitter is like a teletype - it provides real-time snippets of all the current headlines.
- Tweetdeck (or Hootsuite) is like a soup ladle for Twitter - they help you scoop out the ingredients you really want.
- Business blogs are like annual reports - they let you tell stories about your organization that don’t fit in any other communications vehicle.
- Curating content is like being a DJ - it’s all about the right variety and mix to capture and sustain your audience’s interest.
- A brand being present on social media is like a sponsorship - it’s only a starting point and requires effective marketing to really get value from it.
- Establishing social network-based relationships is like the early stages of dating - if the relationship is going to last, it needs to start slow and be built on something meaningful.
- A podcast is like listening to someone else’s phone conversation - it will only be worthwhile if you have interesting people on both sides of the conversation.
- Writing a blog is like shooting a movie out of order - it needs to have a unifying theme and outline even if it's not created in the sequence in which it finally appears.
- Social media content is like a family-style dinner - it has to be easily shareable.
What other similes would you add to the list? What's social media like for you? – Mike Brown
The Brainzooming Group helps make smart organizations more successful by rapidly expanding their strategic options and creating innovative plans they can efficiently implement. Email us at brainzooming@gmail.com or call 816-509-5320 to learn how we can help your organization make a successful first step into social media.
