For those of you who know me, I am incredibly organized in my professional life. With the addition of a second child, my personal calendar is more like daily juggling practice-training for the circus. However, one thing I get right every year, is holiday gift giving…if all my shopping is done in August of that year. (There is always a caveat.) Post August, unless I buy the gift while the thought is fresh in my mind, it is very difficult to guarantee I will deliver the card or gift. The intent for gift giving is genuine, but sometime execution is lacking. I am sure some of you could relate, no?

The intent versus execution struggle is also familiar to those of us in the B2B area. Each time we release an eBook, present a webinar, or speak at an event, we are always asked about the difference B2B organizations face executing social media strategies. (The difference between B2B and B2C is not as broad as you may think.) As the results of a recent study show, the differentiating factor is intent versus execution. Not so different from the gift giving dilemma some of us face year after year. Inspired by the article, Gift givers: How they vary in intent and execution, I decided to break down the social business character-types.

The Stockpiler has been known to hoard case studies and research reports. They are quite knowledgeable of social media theory, but have not had any practice in execution of said theories. They do not know the motivation for entering social media for their own organization and are overly concerned about keeping up with the Jones.’

The Organizer tends to draft a social media strategy complete with actionable tactics, yet does not connect the dots of how the strategy and tactics will affect other departments across the organization.

The OverThinker agonizes over the research phase of the strategy and is often left in the state of analysis paralysis or finds self meandering down a hole in search of the White Rabbit. They tend to remember everything that went wrong or could have gone wrong in past projects.

The Last-Minuter deliberately leaves the strategy creation until the last-minute and does not get the essential buy-in needed from organization critics. They are often seen scrambling at the last-minute and putting everything into their plan regardless of applicability or research.

The Forgetful One understands the need for a social media strategy and execution plan, yet is often seen scrambling at the eleventh-hour putting emphasis on shiny new toys and one-size-fits-all tools instead of sound strategies and tactics tailored to their organization.

The Crafter doesn’t believe in third-party solutions and spends most of their time piecing together research, tactics and tools instead of focusing on strategic execution, actionable insights, and solution-based platforms.

The Delegator knows the need for a social media strategy, but has no interest other than checking the box of completion. They pass the critical research and decision making to a person or team ultimately not responsible for the execution.

Do you see the actions of your organization in any of those character-types? How do you push beyond intent and execute?

Tags: B2B