I'm talking to you "everyone should be using social media" folks. And I'm tired about talking about social media. So let's talk about something that's way, WAY bigger: your identity. Your brand. Who you are and what you believe in as a company. Your culture. All of it - it's your identity.
And before you can think about the tools, before you get yourself all tool and tactic-ized to death, remember that it has to be rooted in you. Your tone-of-voice. Your attitude. Your language. And be authentic to you. I hate to use Apple as an example (because everybody uses them as an example for everything), but the company that just about everyone strives to be like has just about no presence in social media. Why? Because they are being true to who they are.
If you're struggling with your identity, then you're probably struggling with everything else. And the beautiful thing is that once you really know who you are and why you exist, everything else becomes clear as day. How you should engage people. What tools you should use. How you should reframe the conversation. What conversations you should even be participating in.
Everything starts with identity. And if you're reading this and feel a pit in the middle of your stomach, then maybe it's time to do something about it instead of starting that Facebook Fan page for your company.
I'm just sayin'.