Recently, some colleagues from WestmorelandFlint had a book club meeting to review a recent TED video presentation from Alexis Ohanian of Reddit. The presentation is a short, very simple explanation of how the Internet levels the playing field for everyone – including businesses. As he says it, “Your link is no different than my link.”

With that quote in mind, our discussion revolved around the challenges we see in educating clients and prospects about the benefits of social media. In particular, getting people to think big, outside of they’re comfort zone and beyond what they have envisioned.

Does this mean you’ll have to give up control? Yes. Does it mean you have to think outside the box? Yes. Does it mean not focusing on features and benefits? Definitely!

But the beauty of a good social media program is that you can open up your company and/or it’s products to markets and customers you’ve never dreamed of reaching, because you didn’t have the budget. The keys to success are to appeal to emotions, be transparent and authentic, integrate it with other communications tactics and don’t get in the way!

What is your take-away from this video? Please share your comments.