Seth Godin’s blog today pointed out five pillars of success: see (really see) what’s possible, know specifically what you want to achieve, make good decisions, understand the tactics to get things done and to change minds, and earn the trust and respect of the people around you.

As he mentioned, it seems like many of us spend the most time on the fourth pillar – understanding tactics to get things done and change minds. Though Seth may not have been referring to social media today, it does seem like this is an issue endemic in the social media sub-culture. Too many of the players in this space focus solely on tactics. They preach about the importance of monitoring Twitter feeds, but never explain – or understand – how, or if, monitoring these feeds will make a meaningful impact on corporate reputation. They’ve done well with the tactics, but they’ve ignored the main goal.

Corporations that truly want to understand and change their reputation need to move away from this short term focus on tactics, and from the players that focus solely on tactical objectives.

To truly be successful, and to change your company’s perception, you need to truly understand, and commit to, a long term strategy and goals. You need to know which strategic initiatives will help you achieve those goals, and you’ll need to make the right decisions to ensure those initiatives are successful. You’ll need to track the performance of each initiative, understand how it contributes to or detracts from your corporate reputation, and adjust it as necessary to fit your strategy. You will need to make tactical moves as you move towards your goal, but these should be made with your overarching strategy in mind. Maintaining this long-term focus, and measuring, monitoring and tracking your success towards your goals, is the only way to ensure your company achieves the trust and respect it is striving for.