I missed posting about my two year blogging anniversary a few weeks ago so this is my post to make up for it. In my very first post for this blog two years ago on the topic of social media I wrote:
Everything available to you through web 2.0 takes time to get off the ground. Some people will be fine with that, but for those of you with mandates and timelines you're going to come to a fork in the road of whether you want to do something that people can see soon (old marketing methods) with something that will have an enduring impact (web 2.0 methods). Consider it your own little blue pill vs red pill. One will take you to a world you couldn't imagine and the other...will keep you right where you are.
So, do I still believe this two years later? I sure do. In fact, I think this blue pill/red pill decision is one that more marketers are deciding on today than they were two years ago when I first wrote this. I had lunch today with some people from a company who are deciding right now which way to go. I had a similar lunch meeting yesterday. The tide seems to be coming in on social media.
Some people thought social media was a fad (and have since admitted so to me) but now see the communication/Internet/marketing world has changed and they need to change with it. Other people just weren't paying attention or maybe were paying attention but didn't take the time to get their hands dirty in the social media sandbox. Whatever the case, there's is a rapidly widening awareness of the choice that needs to be made.
So which will you choose? If you choose the blue pill (blissful ignorance) then congratulations, you don't have to do much. You can relax knowing you won't have to go through the possible discomfort of change and new learning. I also hope you're planning to retire in the next 12-18 months, otherwise you may regret the choice. If you choose the red pill (hard truth) then congratulations, you're about to enter an exciting and unsettling journey. If you feel like the rules have changed you're wrong. It's the game that has changed and it has its own rules...but now you're choosing to play, and that's the best place to start.