Social Media strategy can be a daunting proces...developing the strategy, that is. Here are some key points to to look at when diving into the process and utilizing social media as a marketing tool.
1. What results or outcomes do you want to generate out of social media?
Are you trying to drive new business? Are you selling a book? Are you doing on line webinars? Results/goals you want to achieve - more visibility, tracking others, grow revenue, build community?
2. Who is your target market?
Identify who you want to reach and where are they? What platforms are they using? For example, at first I ignored Facebook for business development, now I spend more time in Facebook than I do in Linkedin.
3. Create effective ways to participate and reciprocate.
If you find an interesting Blog, make comments. If you find an interesting Tweet, make sure to re-tweet giving credit to the original tweeter. These are ways of recognizing and appreciating the contribution of people in your social network.
4. Implementation - Be consistent rather than a blitz.
Though time consuming, Social Media can be integrated into your marketing strategy in a way that it feels natural and easy. For example, a lot of social media activities acan be done 1st thing in the morning and late at night - You can automate some activities using programs SocialOomph to Tweet and blogging can be scheduled.
5. Track and Measure
Periodically, track some aspects of the impact you are making. Social media tools typically have statistics related to the tool, if not there are applications out there that you can add to monitor traffic. Google Analytics for example.
6. Measuring ROI
Think long term. How much is this going to cost you and how much time is it going to take. Make sure benefits exceed costs before you take on a social media strategy. You may see success immediately but like any good marking plan or strategy, it may take some time to see results.
7. Blogging
Many people avoid Blogging because they are not...well "bloggers". Blogging has its own stigma which I must be changed. Remove the work blogging and replace it with article publishing. Using a blog to publish your articles is much more effective than creating PDFs or text pages on your site.
8. Video and other forms of new media (this should be my first point!)
Social media is Multi-Media! Post videos, links, photographs, Pod-casts. They all work in the world of social media. My personal strategy is to use video publishing sites such as YouTube and then embed the media from YouTube into my site or blog. Then I will post updates in my social media communities. This way, they first go to my website to watch the video and YouTube counts it as a view.
9. No time to do this?
If you do not have time for any of this - consider outsourcing this to companies that provide these services. They can guide you more quickly to get the goals you want.
10. If nothing else!
You may still be thinking, "this social media stuff is just not for me". You might be right! It is not for everyone. But, at a minimum, create a LinkedIn profile and keep it current. Consider this your online presence, like a phone book entry. You can do something as simple as upload your address book into LinkedIn and connect with those people you already know. This will take about two hours of your time.
Robert Grossman specializes in designing and creating powerful and effective communications using video, live events, digital media and social media to help companies grow. He is the founder and chief message architect of Focus Creative Group, a full service communications consultancy and production company which serves both large and middle market companies. If you would like more information about how Robert can help your company grow, please visit his website at http://www.focuscreative.com.
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