I’m going to come right out and say it: not every company needs a social media strategy.

GASP.

I probably just offended legions of marketers who are taking to the streets armed with the shield of Facebook, the sword of Twitter, and the stallion of Instagram.

Sorry about that. No offence meant. Just put the sword away.

The truth is, when you look at your company’s social media strategy you need to consider the trade-offs and what you are looking to gain from having a social media presence. Sometimes, the time and effort put into managing digital media can be more effectively used elsewhere – and there is one fantastic big-name example of this.

Apple. The iCompany has developed the strongest iBrand in the iWorld (although admittedly they’re moving away from the iMovement now), all without dabbling in social media. Their Facebook page only went up in August of 2013, and has seen very little traffic since that point compared with the popularity of the brand itself.

So why did Apple not invest more time into its social media?

It didn’t need to. Social media is about engaging in conversations with others, leveraging the power of those brand communities to communicate with others – Apple is about enabling those conversations through innovative technology. It put its time and emphasis into a strong customer service program and developing innovative products as opposed to simply spending time and money responding to Facebook requests. They let their armies of fans build the communities themselves – displaying that trust that I’ve mentioned before. They trusted their fans, and their fans did the work for them – allowing Apple to do what it does best.

None of this is to say that it isn’t worth investing time or energy into social media. For most companies it most definitely is. However, it’s important that your organization consider why you want a social media strategy, what you’re hoping to get out of the strategy, and whether those goals could be more effectively met elsewhere. You might just become the next iTrend.