Why do we make social media so complicated?

I spend most of my day talking - probably the biggest understatement I'll make - whether it be with mentors or clients, about social media. How to sell with it, to measure it, when to post, why to post, the most common questions we face or are asked. You can go on Twitter right now and these questions will be answered in articles that will have you scrolling (and scrolling and scrolling), but there is an underlying issue, why do we make social media so difficult? We all know that life isn't simple much of the time. Does that mean we shouldn't try to make it as simple as possible? I think of this in terms of social media and the stress I have seen and shared within our internal marketing team. It took copious amounts of time for us to change from thinking in terms of pictures, videos, posts, and white papers to thinking in terms of relationships. Social is no different than old-fashioned networking. I will let you in on a little secret. Following is our marketing action plan, social or otherwise. We develop an idea; come together and create a strategy. Then we plan our schedule of action and execute. This turns into a cycle of adapting, executing more, and continuing to adapt with what performs well and modifying what did not perform to our expectations. Through the process of building a social network, it can take on a life of its own. It's easy to look at your analytics and get caught up in the numbers game. You don't need numbers; you need personal connections. Engage with those you can help. Build a relationship with those who can be trusted as well as those who care and those you care for. So, forget numbers and forget about receiving. Instead, focus on providing. This is the only way to have real connections and that is your ROI. Simple, no? Eric Wilson is the director of social media at NEREJ, Norwell, Mass.