Because the concept of "social media" is still fairly new in the business realm, many companies have yet to implement guidelines or a structured plan of action of how to use social media tools for their advantage. What is happening instead, are companies rushing into creating Facebook pages and Twitter accounts without much creative thought or strategy.
I have created a quick guideline, outlining how to implement a "social media marketing plan" the smart way.
1. Decide where exactly it is that you want to be online, i.e. Facebook? Twitter? Corporate Blog? Research the best options for your company and also look at what your competition is already doing. It’s similar to the marketing research put into Ad campaigns. True marketing research has taken a back seat since social media exploded onto the web scene. Marketing Research applies to this as well. One wrong move in the online world and you could be spending the next couple of years trying to redeem yourself.
2. Come up with multiple options. Send out your marketing team to do research and come up with ideas. I know this could sound crazy–but it will help. Tell your employees to come back with what they think will be a stellar campaign. Social media marketing needs to be handled with care, just like any other marketing/PR or advertising initiative has been in the past. Come up with mock designs of your blog or even twitter account. Every picture, video, whitepaper, or even blog post that your company produces on the web is permanent. Once it's out and about in cyberspace, it cannot be undone. So take your time. Gather ideas on videos, pictures, etc. Having several options and designs to choose from will make the end result more $positive.
3. Implementation. This is crucial. Having a team work on the campaign is key–but having the whole team maintain the campaign might not be the best idea. You need a social media controller. In today’s marketplace any company who wants to run a social media campaign must make the decision to either hire one and or promote from within. Social media takes up time, which is why not everyone can do it because lets face it–social media is not the end all. We still need marketers do what they have always been doing and accounting doing their job, etc (you get the point…the company needs to stay in operation). If you are implementing a twitter account-decide who is going to be the voice of that account. It is okay to have 2 or three voices but you want to make it known on your page who each voice is. Facebook should always be maintained. Nobody likes to see a page go untouched for months. You need your social media controller to be on top of these things!
4. Search the web. On top of what your company is doing for social media—you must also stay on top of what other companies are doing and what your consumers are saying about you!..this also takes up alot of time–but is so crucial in the long run.
Comments
Glad to see this article shared w/East coasters - our businesses are *sligthly* slower to adopt Social Marketing, as compared to our West Coast, European, and Indian counterparts. There are, however, many companies making up the difference quickly. This is a great opportunity for marketing to re-invent itself. Despite the name - it is important that marketing leads the charge - it's critical to your brand. Also wouldn't hurt to run strategy and content by legal esp. if you are not controlling rights to post.
Also - like with any market outreach - make sure you track activity. Finally - make sure to integrate your corporate website, FaceBook, Twitter, and LinkedIn efforts for greater reach, consistency, and professionalism.
Courtney,
Good points. If I had to focus in on the most important point, it would be this...realize, accept and commit to time it takes to keep up a social media effort.
Depending on the particular campaign, this can be a weekly, daily or more frequent endeavor. As such, you are spot on regarding the assignment of a sort of "community manager" that is responsible for the overall plan.
A great resource for any industry is the FREE "Community Banker's Guide to Social Network Marketing." While it was targeted to banking, its application and lessons cross industries.
It is a free download at docstoc dot com
Nice job.
Jesse Torres
@jstorres
How about starting with, "What do I want to accomplish?"
Any "plan" that doesn't start with a clear objective is destined to be an utter mess.
You are confusing 'social media involvement' and 'social media marketing'.
One is CRM/sales, the other is marketing. Goals, actions and planning are very different.
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