…(and yes, as a strategic marketer I may be biased, but I’m in very good company!).

My view is right up there with the granddaddy of management and marketing, Peter Drucker, in totally agreeing with the following:

“The purpose of a business is to create a customer.” After all – what is a business without some form of user or customer? Errr. Dead.

When it comes to social media, ‘missing the point’, is a key thought that often runs through my head these days.

There’s no doubt about it, there’s a lot of noise. And within that noise, there’s just too much, of what I will refer to as, #fakesocial. If you’re like me, passionate about the far reaching and authentic connection opportunities social technologies can enable – no doubt you agree that it’s frustrating and more than just a little disheartening.

I’m calling out three #fakesocial culprits – and no doubt there are others.  I invite you to vent in the comments.

Social media, in it's organic form, (I'm certainly not talking 'paid social' here, as that's a whole other ball game), is, as the word says, 'social' media.

Markets are still one to many and many to many conversations and there is most certainly still appetite for 'social' connection and 'social' conversation.

In fact, as more and more irrelevant noise is created as a product of the broadcasting focus of 'paid social', then the quality and relevance of organic social, becomes even more sought after.

But... that's not the game the algorithms play.

As a marketer, with the job of bringing the voice, feelings and values of the customer into the organisation, over the years, I have probably driven many of my clients, colleagues and peers a little bit crazy with my obsession around a ‘customer first’ perspective.

But realistically, for the majority of organisations, a business without customers is not really a business. For those that challenge this view, internal customers still figure. Therefore, what other obsession should there be?

Are you like many other marketers getting too wrapped up in reporting on ‘signals’ rather than activity that purposely impacts overarching business objectives? Perhaps, not sure…? Then read on…

I’m in the middle of running a 3-week digital first training programme – purely via interactive webinars, to a global marcom team within a large manufacturing organisation.

As part of the programme, across the training disciplines: Email, SEO, Content Marketing and Social Media, the topic of metrics and measuring ROI is a critical component.