Social Media Globetrotter

Have you heard of companies or individuals offering “turnkey” solutions/strategies for SEO or for social media?  Wait, let me back up, let’s start off with “what’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the term “turnkey?”  I define turnkey as a one size fits all approach to getting things done.  I think of turnkey as a form or data field that companies can fill out with their information that then generates recommendations/results/etc.  An SEO turnkey solution would be something that says “insert keyterms here and we will create a title tag for you (get the idea?)”  A social media turnkey solution would be something that says “if you want more friends on twitter or facebook, install this.”  Of course, these are just a few examples that may or may not exist, but hopefully you understand where I am going with this.  You can also check out my post on “personalization not automation.”

When referring to SEO or social media I don’t believe in anything that is turnkey.  There is no such thing as as a one size fits all approach or an automated SEO or social media campaign.  We’re talking about strategies here, not clothing.  Here is my argument against using anything turkey for SEO or social media (and probably a lot of other things):

• your business is always going to have a different target audience, a different set of keywords, different conversation hubs, a different product, etc.

• if you use a turnkey solution and so do your competitors, then where is the advantage for you?

• a tool that works for company may not work for another company

• easy and cheap does not imply effective

• the relationships you try to build through SEO or social media may not make sense for everyone.  For example if you are an author or an online retailer you are probably going to go after very different relationships with very different people

• you can’t stand out or be unique from anything turnkey

• in order to succeed you need a customized strategy that matches YOUR goals and objectives

Basically I think that in order for any business to succeed in today’s environment a turnkey solution is actually more detrimental then beneficial.  With the economy struggling people are looking for “unique” and “original,” you can’t afford to go with anything turnkey.  A social media strategy for Adobe won’t look anything like a social media strategy for Coca-Cola and an SEO strategy for Chevron won’t look anything like an SEO strategy for Ford.  You can use the same basic ideas and general guidelines but if you actually want to see results you have to have your own way of getting things done.

I use twitter, linkedin, and facebook, but so does Barack Obama.  One of us uses social media to give advice, tips, strategies, promote content, and create conversation; the other uses social media as a medium for a calls to action, broadcast messages, status updates, rallying the troops (so to speak), etc.  There may be some similarities but overall the way I use social media and the way Barack Obama (or his team) use social media are very different, can you imagine both of us using the same turnkey solution or strategy?

What do you think about turnkey solutions for social media or SEO (or other)?  How would you define “turnkey?”

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