In Virginia, one of the highlights of the fourth grade was the annual square dance. We practiced “our moves” for weeks, got just the right plaid outfit, and when the event arrived we were all in top form to do-se-do our partners. In many respects, minus the plaid, social media is the communication do-se-do equivalent. If you’re “free-styling” too wildly people may watch, but it’s hard for them to partner with you.

Flickr Image: Seatle Municipal Archives

Long before there was social media there were sewing circles. These communities influenced decisions and trends by their power of conversation. Last week the Craft and Hobby Association Winter Convention and Trade Show reminded me that good communication, no matter what the platform, yields results if you move in tandem with your audience (partner).

1. Have a clear understanding of your brand and your value statement for your audience.
2. Listen to your audience and understand what they want and/or need from you.
3. Engage to provide clear messages and value.
4. Measure your successes and failures.
5. Make adjustments to further build on your strengths.

Granted, I was influenced by the bedazzled smocks and aprons, but was truly amazed at how smoothly these communities have integrated online socialization into their face-to-face roots. (I’m very thankful at BurrellesLuce we are fortunate to have an engaged social media team, enthusiastic bloggers, and amazing client advocates who have made a similar smooth transition of their relationships.)

There have been at least a hundred new mainstream dance moves since I was in the fourth grade, but, like with crafts and hobbies, the classics live on forever. The evidence is in this video of children doing the Virginia Reel at the 2009 Kala Ghoda Art Festival in Mumbai, India.

Do you have a social to online success story you’d like to share? What classic core competencies do you attribute to your success? How have those skills attributed to your success in social media?

This entry was posted on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 11:04 am and is filed under Industry Events, Public Relations, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.