when you let consumers and audiences decide...

... be ready to take them on fullblast!

 One of the mistakes of marketeers when it comes to social media planning is that they are not ready to take things on when the program takes a life of its own because of the interest of its audiences.

Social media planning for most media planners and marketeers is still about having a brandpage on Facebook and creating a Twitter account, with metrics such as "get X thousands of fans and followers, get Y thousands of comments, and get Z thousands of retweets".

I believe that social media planning is all about creating brand-catalyzed movements - or as Seth Godin calls them, "tribes".

Once you get consumers and audiences into your brand's program, it is no longer yours - it is theirs.

And that ownership is the ultimate sign of success.

The problem is marketeers are not ready to let go of control.  They don't trust their consumers enough.  They don't empower them enough.  They don't act as facilitators.

The thing is, once you start a movement, you just can't leave it - you have to create something far bigger than your brand and far bigger than your goals.

Will it generate revenues? 

Oh yes!  In more ways than one since it is the members who become your "conduits of information and recommendations".

It will be difficult to measure - but it is not impossible and it will certainly create returns far better than traditional, broadcast-based advertising.