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Social Media is a growing business fascination, and determining a strategy is fast becoming a critical element of any marketing plan. I am in favor of strategy as much as the next person. In fact, helping people with their social media strategy is one of the ways I make a living. Problem is, much of the time I feel focusing on “Social Media” is missing the point, could it be we are elevating a tactic higher than it should go?
As someone said, it might have been Chris Brogan,
Do you have a strategy for your telephone? No?
The point being social media is a bunch of tools, some tactics, but not a business plan, or marketing plan for that matter.
It’s important to keep any approach in perspective and context.
Even more dangerous is considering social media marketing as just something else that you can buy. As I often say, social media marketing is not “check book marketing” – you need to be involved, and make “social” part of the ability and operating practices of every public facing (and some not) staff member, colleague and role.
So many companies think it is yet another channel to “get our message out” (and when they say message read “offer”). But just as important, or perhaps more so, is the other aspect of any communication – listening!
Many of the social media goofs have been caused by not monitoring the communication that so often goes on without you, and becoming a responsible and authentic part of that conversation. It’s all too easy to bury our corporate heads in the old media sands, but time is coming where if you are not involved in your markets discussions then you are irrelevant, or worse an easy target.
It’s going to take some big, and possibly painful changes for big corporations, but change they must. This is where the little companies have the advantage as they are closer to customers anyway, and do not have the layers of bureaucracy holding them back.
Find ways to interact with your prospects and customers in real two way discussions. Listen first, help out as much as you can, with no thought to what you might get in return, other than some highly valuable feedback.
- Where do your audience gather?
- What do your prospects care about?
- What are they talking about?
- What do they say about you?
- What do they say about your market, industry or niche?
- How can you help them?
Your first step is to find the conversations, and you can start today.
So what is the problem? Seems like a useful Social Media Strategy, right?
Fact is, your business should be doing this anyway – just it is easier and faster with social media tools! Social Media is exposing which companies have their customer first and foremost in the priorities and those that prioritize profits or their own self interest.
If social media is difficult to sell internally it might not be your strategy at fault, more likely your culture.
