The report has some great outtakes, but one I would like to highlight is this:

But, according to our study, consumers don’t want a conversation with brands—they want deals. Of those who follow a brand on Twitter, 44% say access to exclusive deals is the main reason. The same holds true for those who “friended” a brand on Facebook or MySpace, where 37% cite access to exclusive deals or offers as their main reason.

I think this is something that a lot of so-called “social media gurus” should pay attention to. It’s fine to say “It’s all about engagement. It’s all about conversations. It’s not about selling“, because often, it isn’t. But don’t repeat that mantra on blind rotation. Because sometimes, just sometimes, people are after deals. And that’s nothing to be ashamed of.
I’ve said this before in an unrelated discussion, but while we (people interested in social media) often harp on about how “this promotion” or “that promotion” misses “the point of social media”, I’ll say it again: generally speaking, we are not the average audience, people. We need to step back and see things from the eyes of the average consumer. Because, ultimately, that’s who the brand is going to be targeting.

Other points to take home from the FEED 09 Report? It’s all about the experience. But we always knew that, didn’t we? The technologies may come and go, but keep it about the experience, let consumers associate you with a positive mindframe… and everything just falls into place from there.

Anyway, go read it.

The first thing I find difficult about “Social Media” is the tenet of “Don’t Be Afraid to Let Other People Take Your Idea and Run With It“. (or, as Rohit Bhargava termed it, “Don’t be afraid to let go of a message or idea and let others own it“).
Now, don’t get me wrong here, I can definitely understand that in a world made for sharing ideas and collaborating, this is a belief that should basically go without saying. That said, it’s my sheer human nature that I get… well, let’s just call it slightly protective over things I consider “my baby”.

I’ve always been like that, even in my old band days… songs that I wrote were “my babies”, and accepting others had ideas about those songs always made me slightly agitated. Most of the time they were great suggestions, but all the same, I selfishly wanted it to be known that these were my songs.

Stupid, huh? But that’s me.

Or, I suppose, it was me. I’m trying to change that. Where I can, I’m collaborating with people online to try and further ideas, to further learning, and, ultimately, that furthers my own education. But, when it’s an idea of mine that gets picked up and run with, ultimately being claimed as another’s, I admit to still feeling a pang of… pettiness, about it.

As I said, I’m trying. Not always succeeding, but it’s a journey, no? But that’s #1 in a series of things I find difficult about social media. What’s yours?