This week the UK has been battered by storms with a surprising intensity that caught a few people unaware. The storm hit Scotland late on Wednesday and continued throughout Thursday, spreading slowly south as the week progressed.

On Thursday, we were out on a pre-breakfast run around the woods and parks in north London where freestak is based, having fun running along as the wind whipped through the trees, liberating the last few autumnal leaves from the almost-bare trees. Suddenly we crested a hill and were greeted by the sight of three men, from the local council parks department, with brooms and a leaf-blower, trying to gather up the deep drifts of leaves.

Obviously it was an impossible task (and quite frustrating to watch). But it seemed to be a useful analogy for how business could, and indeed should, plan and manage their social media activity.

There are two possible reasons that the council workmen were out clearing leaves on one of the windiest days of the year: either it had been scheduled in and they were going to do that job, on that day come what may. Or it had been decided that it would be a great day to collect leaves – afterall, there were going to be a lot of leaves to collect. There are problems with both of these options.

It was scheduled

The problem here is that when the work was scheduled, there was no way of knowing that the storm was coming. That is only a problem if the leaf-collecitng team can’t or won’t react to changing conditions.

In social network activity terms, this is like not reacting to a globally significant event. This week the world lost an important political and spiritual leader when Nelson Mandella passed away. To not respond to that by changing the tone or content of your social media messages or re-scheduling your social media activity to reflect the new situation would be short-sighted at the very least. It would be far better to do something else this week and come back to your planned activity next week when it is more appropriate.

It seemed like the logical thing to do

In the case of deciding to go and pick up leaves on the day when the most leaves are falling off the trees, the problem is that you are really fighting an unwinnable battle. The council team that I saw had no chance to collecting the leaves, which were swirling and drifting in every direction as they were being swept into piles.

In social media we recently saw an explosion of commercial activity linked to the American ‘tradition’ of Black Friday and the newer Cyber Monday. Retailers desperate to capitalise on the chance of selling in this now crucial window of opportunity, pumped out millions of messages, creating a maelstrom of noise that was like the drifts of leaves in the park.

If your business is faced with this situation, as yourself whether today is the best day to try to make yourself heard? In such a frenetic environment you really only have two choices to ensure you succeed – go big or wait. If you were to go big, then three men with a broom each vs. the biggest storm of the year is woefully inadequate. You need an army of leaf collectors (and you need to ask yourself why you are doing this!) Or you can come back in a couple of days and make a really big impact.

As for the actual leaf collectors, our run took us on from them for half an hour. By the time we returned, they were say in the cab of their truck drinking tea while the leaves blew wildly around them. Probably the most sensible decision they had made.