IBM Institute for Business Value’s 40-page white paper is worth the download and read for one simple reason: it challenges your thinking about social media.

Many companies embark on social media with the Nike philosophy: “just do it.” But that doesn’t cut it in today’s “engagement” environment. According to a piece in Infoworld Daily, corporate focus on social technologies has been in “marketing organizations that use it to monitor what customers are saying about the company, trying to influence customer views. The buzz word is “reputation management,” so companies think that by adding Twitter, Facebook, etc. to traditional advertising and marketing channels they are “doing social media.” According to IBM’s paper, that’s missing the mark.

IBM surveyed more than 1,000 consumers worldwide and interviewed 350 executives and found out companies assume customers are seeking them out on social sites to feel connected to their brand. Wrong! Customers are more interested in getting tangible value, so the white paper suggests businesses are confusing their own desire for customer intimacy with what should be the real motivations for engaging customers: creating value in THEIR eyes, not our own!

Interline understands we have our work cut out for us in understanding this “new world.” For example, the white paper points out that for people, social media is about family and friends, or news and entertainment – not interacting with brands. More than half of the people they interviewed don’t even consider engaging with businesses via social sites. That’s a disconnect.

Because if IBM’s white paper is true — and our on experiences with our clients’ participation in social media reflects the truth of it — 45 percent who do interact with brands say they need to feel “a company is communicating honestly before they will interact.” So the real question isn’t about adding the social channels to your arsenal of tactics; the real question is defining “honestly” not as bragging about your latest stand on an issue, but rather, REALLY doing something meaningful and of value for your customers. That’s hard work, and requires a kind of new thinking all around. We think IBM’s paper is worth the time to consider their findings and to start that thinking. Thank you IBM! Get the download: intrln.com/ibm