Social media is a state of mind.

The mindset required for social media is one of concentration and creativity.

The mindset required for social media is one of concentration and creativity.

Businesses know the importance of creating high quality content.

Marketing professionals understand the massive impact that it can have in building their brands and competitive advantage.

But many underestimate the amount of skill and energy to create content and execute on social media effectively.

Content isn’t just a discipline.

It is a state of mind.

Creating and consuming content requires concentration and active absorption of information.

And in a world of immersive media and active demand for engaging content, this need for concentration is crucial.

Creativity is king in the creative economy.

Concentration = creativity.

For instance, a talented graphic designer has to be able to watch a video on the computer and interpret its design and texture into a graphic which can be used for advertising or website design.

This is not so much because of passion for design; it’s because of the concentration, understanding, creativity and execution.

It is through immersion in content, that marketers — especially those with limited budgets — can create and curate the content that is best suited to their brands.

Content that is effective and meaningful.

Content that is optimized.

Today, content creation is a major element of marketing. It’s an increasingly essential contributor to sales.

To start competing in a world of engaged consumers, you’ll need to start an active process of creation and publication of your content.

This requires a deep knowledge of social media and the ability to understand social media, to ideate on what is being shared with what was posted on your site in a way that is emotional and impactful to the consumer or audience.

All of this requires concentration.

When content consumption shifts from television to the internet, it’s no longer best served as an afterthought; it must be communicated, promoted and posted consistently.

The game is now far more complex.

Social media is no longer an afterthought.

It is the forefront of the future of marketing and requires the respect and attention that any other marketing role or business unit would receive.

You must educate, motivate and ignite a tribe of followers.

So the next time your company treats social media as an afterthought, or an add-on function to an existing marketing business unit.

Remember.

I’ve never seen a successful person with a back to back schedule, and I’ve never seen a successful company execute on social media when they’re responsible for a variety of other marketing roles.

Concentrate.