Square Ideas Don't Fit Into Round Holes

May 13 2009, 9:39pm

Now that social media is all the rage, I am reminded of the days of yore and how workflows from that time are being echoed today.

When I first started in this business, print still dominated and the Web took a backseat. Ideas were brought to life in print, TV, direct mailings and whatever else you can think of, except the Web. Then someone would ask, “How do we make this work on the Web?” At that point the room would go silent.

If you’re old enough to remember, you know the result was always less than desirable. The idea did not always translate well to the Web.

Fast forward to today.

I think it’s fair to say that we know how an idea is going to be implemented on the web. So I ask, why is the same thinking from days gone by being applied to social media?

Now the idea is created for the Web and then someone asks, “How can we make this work in social media?” This question should be brought up during idea generation, not after. Better yet, brands should be part of the conversation, on some level, before an idea is even generated, but that is a different post.

Do yourself a favor and think of how to use social media as part of the bigger idea before trying shove the idea into social media.

You’ll be a hero.