Getting "Horizontal" with Your Social Media Strategy

We stumbled on an interesting video interview with Amber Naslund today. Naslund is the co-author of "The Now Revolution" with Jay Baer, a book which reviews how to develop a "horizontal strategy" around social media. The book goes beyond a social media "how-to" by exploring the structural adaptations that need to take place within an organization for it to take advantage of the real-time business opportunities that social media affords.

As Naslund explains in the following interview with Behind the Brand's Brian Elliott, there are an excess of tactical social media resources out there, but not many outline what to do when you've already established a successful social media presence. Another way to think about it is how you can become a social business vs. one that just "does" social media.

Naslund recommends "slowing down", and taking a more holistic approach. Businesses need to consider the deep impact of social media on all departments, including but not limited to PR, customer service and product development, using these to build a horizontal, company-wide strategy vs. a narrow vertical one.

Naslund goes into a bit more detail in the interview around the concept of "wayfarers" in business and social media, arguing that social media evangelists have a responsibility to question the status quo. She reasons that  "if you want to do something new, the path to that is not on the existing map". She also provides some insights into the ongoing "social media ROI" debate, and argues that the single reason that more companies aren't innovating in the realm of social media is because of fear around the blame associated with failure.

Check out the full interview below, and let us know what you think!

Posted by Nicole Capelo at February 24, 2012 3:15 PM

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