Many years ago I went off in search of the famed white sands of Scotland.

The locals at the pub I’d stopped in for lunch told me they were “a wee bit down the road.” I ended up walking for hours.

Social media expertise is a bit like that.

While lots of people claim it, the truth is it’s hard to be an expert when the algorithms keep changing and our collective attention span is like a yoyo on an around-the-world adventure. And that’s before you throw in trying to keep up with all the new apps, tools, and toys.

Social media is in constant flux.

What makes the best people and companies stand out is their willingness to listen, learn, test, iterate, rinse, and repeat.

Domino’s cookie pizza ad sums this up well:

It’s not about the cookie pizza.

My past is littered with cookie pizzas (i.e., social media experiments). Most of them didn’t take because they weren’t useful in achieving my business goals or relevant to my target audience. But I keep signing up and signing in—and watching and testing and learning what works for me and what might work better for you.

Don’t fear the cookie pizza. Identify where your audience hangs out and listen, learn, test, iterate, rinse, and repeat.

Photo by Brendan Corey Benson (Flickr).