Don’t make a big social media mistake
July 1st, 2009 by John Marianetti
Congratulations. You’ve decided that it’s time to move forward with your social media initiative. You may read the statistic by Forrester Research that by the end of 2009, 85% of all consumers will be reading or reviewing social content. There’s a good chance that your customers and prospects fall into that category and you don’t want to miss any opportunities. So you jump right into it. Your marketing director starts writing blogs that are being linked to your company’s Facebook page and your CEO is tweeting about the latest activities of the day.
All of this is going on while your intern is running around the office with a camcorder taping anything that moves in an effort to populate your YouTube channel. Good move? More like a big mistake, unless you have a strategic social media plan in place that confirms that all of this activity makes sense. The social media options that are out there are completely overwhelming and there’s an inclination to feel that you have to participate in everything. Developing a comprehensive strategic social media plan requires a holistic approach that integrates social media into your organization’s current traditional marketing strategies. It is an effort that requires a sustainable plan driven by measurable objectives.
The first step in assisting in the development of a strategic plan is to engage in active listening. This will help you to understand the current mindset and perceptions of your employees, customers, competitors, and prospects regarding your brand and your industry, as well as where these conversations are taking place online. When you combine your current traditional marketing strategy with a social media initiative, active listening will assist in providing the strategic roadmap for your company’s success.
A solid strategic plan will place you in the conversations utilizing tactics and applications that make sense and will position you and your brand in a good light.
— John Marianetti
This entry was posted by John Marianetti on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 and is filed under Blogging, Brand Strategy, Decision Making, Social Media, Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 6th, 2009 at 12:17 am
I have doubts about the power of social media. As you state, using social media incorrectly can adversely impact your brand. I completely agree with this observation but I will go a step further and say that some brands will be hurt just by opening that Twitter account. I think some classic, iconic brands such as Rolex would cheapen their image by jumping into the latest social media craze. There is just something about the two that don’t seem fit for each other.
Also, I question the the reliability and predictability of social media in some cases. I think some messages catch fire, others don’t, and the book is not yet written on what’s good and what’s bad.
Finally, I have my doubts about how long people will follow a company’s social media messages. The emails, Twitter updates and viral videos sent via Facebook, all become exhausting.
July 6th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Alexander – I appreciate your comments. I have to to say that I feel strongly about the power of social media for some businesses, not all, but especially for consumer brands. The bottom line is that without a strategic plan and active listening as the first step, a brand will never really know where they should be participating, if at all. Listening identifies that for us. Rolex may or may not be a good candidate for social media, but if people are out there talking about their brand, they should definitely be engaged. As of right now, social media is real, it’s happening at break-neck speed and it’s being driven and controlled by the consumer. Brand managers need to participate to position and defend their reputation.