I get this question a lot…from clients, in online groups, casual discussions among peers. It’s a great question and worthy of its very own blog post.
To answer this question, you need to think about social media in two ways. First, social media is not a tactic. It’s a component piece of a larger business strategy that seeks to create new relationship-centered activities for customers. As such, it ranges across many corporate disciplines and practices: customer service, customer communications, public relations, sales and, of course, marketing. Don’t think that you can just jump into the social space and suddenly be “social.” It takes time and organizational alignment. If you can’t commit to being social across many dimensions of your organization, then you should question whether getting into social media is right for you.
Second, it is not a stand-alone marketing practice. It is an element of a broader marketing strategy that probably has touch points across a number of channels (TV, print, online, etc.). As such, it needs to absorb both the goals and tone of these strategies to really be effective. For a good example, check out what Old Spice has been doing.
If you have a solid (and innovative!) relationship management practice, and you have all your marketing ships sailing by the same star, then develop a plan (link to 5) for building and maintaining a social practice. Once this plan is in place, then we can start talking about laying a foundation for social media marketing. Here are some first steps to consider:
- Create a digital footprint. If you own a URL, you should also own the Twitter name, Facebook Page and other relevant digital assets. Make sure you do.
- Align your posting/update schedule with your audiences expectations. If Twitter and Facebook are in your mix, know when and how often to post. For example, if you are promising a “daily deal,” then you better have a deal every day. See my post on Twitter best practices.
- Claim businesses for brick and mortar. There are a lot of ways to be present in the social space if you have a physical location. Claim listings on Yelp, Google Places, Facebook Places and other services.
- Feature your social presence in other marketing materials. If you are having an event, make sure flyers include your Twitter and Facebook URLs. Create reasons for people to check them out. Make sure your message is consistent in your online and offline assets.
- Check in to your social platforms regularly. Have a schedule and an owner. Know when and how to interact.
- For all you B2B businesses out there, consider a blog. This is a great way to demonstrate subject matter expertise and build SEO power. Even a carpet-cleaning business can benefit from this. Just show some “before and after” pics and maybe throw in a customer testimonial. Badda-boom-badda-bing. Easy.
- Sell sparingly. By this I mean don’t have every Wall post or Tweet focused on the sale. Participate in dialogues and earn trust. People will be more likely to interact with your marketing/sales message if you do.
- Follow these basic mantras:
- Be consistent
- Be patient
- Be timely
- Be relevant
- Be discriminating
- Be transparent
- Be realistic
That’s a start. Keep up with emerging best practices as much as you can. We are all learning as we go. There are a lot of great blogs and content resources out there, so do your homework and stay informed.
