“Things I’ve Learned from Lately” is a regular compilation of articles that have made me a smarter social media marketer. Hopefully, they’ll help you, too.

The Mobile/Social Challenge – Digiday’s David Berkowitz breaks down why mobile and social working together as a single unit hasn’t really taken off.

Key Takeaway: Mobile is social, and social is mobile. Part of the challenge has to do with the fact that it’s difficult to understand where one component ends and the other begins. As a society, we don’t go into social mode or mobile mode. We’re always on and always connected. The challenge for organizations is viewing things the same way. It’s not the responsibility of your social team or your mobile team to bring the two together. That’s a compartmentalized approach. It’s the responsibility of your marketing team coming together as an integrated unit.

Can Brands Meet Expectations? – Mitch Joel shares his observations that consumer expectations have changed. Instant gratification is the expectation of every consumer, especially consumers reaching out to brands on social channels, but brands aren’t prepared to deliver.

Key Takeaway: Social media has sped past marketers and their capability to scale their efforts to respond effectively, and the bigger a brand’s social presence gets, the more people who are demanding attention. As Joel points out there will be hiccups, and consumers and brands will eventually need to come to terms on what is and isn’t possible when it comes to brand responsiveness.

Look Beyond the Obvious – A recent discussion between GE Chief Marketing Officer Beth Comstock and NASDAQ Corporate Director Nilofer Merchant revealed the potential to use social media for new ideas, but they also cited challenges, including buy-in from the top, along the way.

Key Takeaway: Social is not a popularity contest. It’s not about getting as many people as possible to like or follow you. It’s about doing something with them. Reach is typically the focus of marketers, but we have the potential to do more with them like inviting them to share innovative ideas and using social data to view your business from a new perspective.

Innovation is in the Eye of the Beholder – Fast Company’s John Miziolek shares his observation of Miller’s bottle “innovations” over the years and questions whether or not they’re innovations. Innovation has become meaningless.

Key Takeaway: Innovation comes with fear and hesitancy with the belief that it’s the right thing to do. And innovation should be looked at with perspective. A company doing something for the first time that every other businesses is doing could be innovative for that business at least. However, it’s the innovations that make competitors scared and customers excited that are the game changers.