Originally posted by Pat McGraw on March 10, 2010.
I am working on the Social Media workbook and training for our SalesGen2020 Marketing Program and thought this might be a nice piece of information to share as a reminder to some and new, important information for others.
So here they are…in no particular order:
Look. Listen. Learn.
There are a lot of options and opportunities surrounding social media – so stop asking “How do we get our company on this Tweeter thing?” and focus on “Can this help us provide greater value to our target audience so that we can further differentiate ourselves and do a better job of attracting, engaging, converting and retaining profitable customers?”
Talk to your target audience about their usage of social media. Get out there and see what your competition is doing. Get familiar with what’s out there and how it works – understand the strengths and weaknesses of the technology. (You don’t need to commit to the technology at this point – but you need to understand it if you want to develop a successful strategic plan. After all, if the technology won’t let you do something you need to achieve your objectives….)
This is also known as “Ready. Aim. Fire.”
What are your goals?
Being on the ‘Tweeter thing’ doesn’t justify the investment of your limited resources – in this case, time.
How can social media help you attract, engage, convert and retain profitable customers? And what type of hard numbers do you need to see in these areas in order to evaluate success?
My suggestion is not to look at Social Media on its own – when you have objectives in place for attracting and engaging qualified leads, you will struggle to get the information you need for qualification purposes through Social Media channels. That means you need to incorporate an integrated marketing communications plan that provides the right motivation to individuals for [ex] following you on Twitter but coming to your website to register for a free white paper or webinar, or even ordering product (see Dell Computers as an example.)
Right Message, Right Person, Right Channel
You are likely to encounter a variety of your buyer personas relying upon a variety of social media channels for business purposes – so you need to determine the best way to get the right message to those people.
If Persona A is motivated by low price, is in the Purchase phase of the buying process and relies on Twitter, then do as Dell has done and deliver low price offers.
If Persona B is in the Identify and/or Search phase, is interested in ‘bleeding edge technology’ and relies upon a handful of bloggers for information, you will want to figure out how best work with those bloggers. Product reviews, interviews with your development team – help the bloggers get the unique content they need to succeed.
Human and Real
People buy from people – so be a person when you participate in social media. Drop the marketing-speak (something I struggle with all the time), and have a conversation. Put a face and a personality out there.
Policies, Procedures, Training, Evaluation
Don’t turn your employees loose on social media – keep to the plan and a key part of the plan is who will do what and how they will do it. Set up policies and processes so that everyone understands what can and can’t be shared or how to handle certain issues (when does your blogger call in Investor Relations or Customer Service?).
The social media world changes so figure out how to continually develop the skills. And, of course, evaluate performance based on your objects as well as adherence to policies and processes.
Be selective, don’t try to do it all
There is a natural tendency for businesses to jump into social media rather than step in and gradually immerse themselves. There is no rush and it’s important to make a strong, positive first impression – and your target audience really is looking for fast, convenient access to accurate information so focus on quality of experience over quantity.
Well, that’s it from me – how did I do? Did I miss anything? If so, click on COMMENT and share with the world so it can become a better place.
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