08.04.09: What's in Your Toolkit?

I continue to be amazed by the breadth and frequency of trade groups and others conducting seminars, webinars, conferences, confabs, et. al. about web 2.0, PR 2.0, social media, social networking, new media and the latest terminology. Last fall I attended the PRSA International Conference and nearly every session I attended touched on use of social media. And so many people have jumped out and claimed the dubious honor - social media expert.

So what?

I think the times are interesting in that so many are quick to proclaim tool xx as the one, the silver bullet, if you will. I also think that because many of these are free, the discussion and evaluation is less about either alignment and ROI. "We are using Facebook (or another tool) because it's free." Etc., etc. And because it seems that there is a new app for this/that every other day, the rush to get up to speed seems even more frantic.

So the way I try to deal is to look at these tools (mainly FB, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, blogs, podcasts) in a way that I would look at other tools-select the one that best suits the job but don't use all of them all of the time.

For example, consider PO Boxes, FedEx, US Postal Service (direct mail), email marketing, advertising (outdoor, print, online, broadcast (TV, radio), cable, 800 line, fax machine, call center, receptionist, comment cards (the one's you drop in the box), customer service manager, and so on. Some of these make sense for various entities, various industries, various sized groups, but they all do not suit every organization out there.

So look in the mirror. Realize both who you as an entity are today and who you want to be tomorrow. Then see what tools help you get there and speak to your key stakeholders. Some of your stakeholders will not align with the tools and that is OK. (Think of this situation as analogous to the people who still use their fax machine to broadcast junk. No one wants it and no one reads it.)

Good luck.