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| Ladies' Twilight foursome: Janet, Doreen, Joy & Claire at the Glengarry Golf & Country Club |
As I was cleaning my golf clubs over the weekend I began to think how golf and social media have a lot in common. I know you must be thinking, but hear me out.
Just as in golf, social media has “pros” who have thousands of followers – and likely an army to help them manage their networks. And then there’s the rest of us who get out there and muddle through.
For good golfers it makes a difference whether they use a 5 wood or a 3 iron for a shot. For a duffer like me, playing with a driver, a 4 iron and a putter is usually enough to get me through a 9-hole round with my ladies’ twilight league on Thursdays.
I’m often in awe of social media experts who are not only on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook but also on Pinterest, Vine, AboutMe, Google+ and a host of others. Compared to them, I feel like an amateur!
But is that really justified? Recently at the Caesars Windsor’s Meeting Planner Symposium, I facilitated a social media session where all three of our expert panellists reiterated that social media doesn’t have to be a game where you must use all the tools available. Rachel Stephan of event marketing firm les sens créatifs in Montréal urged attendees to first find out what networks their audience uses the most.
Why try to be on Pinterest if your business doesn’t lend itself to visuals (like mine)? Hearing this simple advice was liberating!
While I think I may be slightly better than a social media duffer, I’ve realized that Twitter and LinkedIn are my driver and 4 iron for my business social media activities. Facebook I use as my putter, for my “short game” with my family, friends and immediate local community, not for business.
And then there's the issue of "practicing": as with golf, using your chosen social media tools regularly will help you gain confidence, engage followers and build your business.
So what kind of social media golfer are you? Are you using all the clubs in your bag or just a few?
