Each week I have the opportunity to briefly discuss social media for business on JoyFm 91.5. In the last two segments, I spoke about the 7 critical questions which first need to be answered before you, or your company, decides to dive into a social media or digital marketing.
Keep in mind, these are basic (yet critical) questions to ask yourself if you've decided to take the self directed approach. Knowledge is power. (This it's not a substitute for strategic planning.)
1. What do you wish to accomplish in your business?
Before you incorporate social media, ask yourself these questions. What is it you want to achieve? Are you looking to raise brand awareness for your organization? Are you looking to improve your customer service channel?
Before you incorporate social media, ask yourself these questions. What is it you want to achieve? Are you looking to raise brand awareness for your organization? Are you looking to improve your customer service channel?
Write your 1-3 goals on paper. Then ask yourself for each one, "WHY do I want to achieve these? Is it because I want to increase my company's profits? Decrease expenses? Streamline processes? Write down you answers, be specific, realistic, and keep them close.
2. Who is your target market?
When discovering your target market, ask yourself the following questions. Who am I trying to reach?
Why am I trying to reach them? Who are my brand evangelists? What is the demographic of the market(s) I wish to attract?
Understanding your market brings clarity. This clarity makes the process of discovering your target market online MUCH easier. (Ex: You are looking to target affluent business professionals (60K+) to purchase a new high end, exclusive product or serve? Then LinkedIn may be a good start.) If you're not sure where to start, here is a handy article I wrote on 4 social ways to discover your target market online that may come in handy.
3. Do you have the resources to manage your social media and digital initiatives?
When determining if you have the resources, ask yourself the following questions? Who will be managing it? Will it be yourself, an employee, or sub-contractor? Are they passionate about your company’s vision and have a sense of ownership? Are they diplomatic when dealing with conflict? Knowing this will coming in handy when you begin to answer the following question.
4. Which social media networks you should really be on?
Take the time to discover which networks both your target market, and competitors are using, and then determine which of those networks you can actually manage and handle. How do you do this? Case studies are your friend. Use the search phrase " 'your industry' social media case study" in Google. (EX: Pizza Social Media Case Study).
Case studies are a great way to see how other businesses in your industry have leveraged social media to achieve real business results.
5. How are you I going to reach them?
Once you've identified which networks your target market(s) are using, and which you're going to use, you need to decide which initiatives you will implement to reach them, etc)
Here are some of the initiatives you might consider:
Make sure that whichever path you choose to follow, your efforts are both manageable and sustainable. Choose one initiative (to start) then break them down into tasks with deadlines. (Ex: For blogging, who is going to write the content? How often? Will I have guest bloggers?)
Take the time to discover which networks both your target market, and competitors are using, and then determine which of those networks you can actually manage and handle. How do you do this? Case studies are your friend. Use the search phrase " 'your industry' social media case study" in Google. (EX: Pizza Social Media Case Study).
Case studies are a great way to see how other businesses in your industry have leveraged social media to achieve real business results.
Once you've identified which networks your target market(s) are using, and which you're going to use, you need to decide which initiatives you will implement to reach them, etc)
Here are some of the initiatives you might consider:
- Content Marketing (eBooks, Notes)
- Email marketing (Mailchimp, Infusionsoft)
- Video Sharing (UStream, Livestream, Youtube)
- Podcasting/Audio Sharing (Last.fm, Grooveshark, Soundcloud)
- Location Based Services (Foursquare)
- Social Media Advertising (Facebook Ads)
- Blogging (Blogger, Wordpress)
- Microblogging (Twitter, Tumblr, Posterous)
- Digital/ Offline Campaigns
Make sure that whichever path you choose to follow, your efforts are both manageable and sustainable. Choose one initiative (to start) then break them down into tasks with deadlines. (Ex: For blogging, who is going to write the content? How often? Will I have guest bloggers?)
6. Ask yourself how much time are you willing to dedicate to social media?
Try and give yourself a minimum of one hour each day to connect, listen, and respond others. Then as your efforts become more successful, you may need to dedicate more time.
7. Ask yourself if your expectations are realistic.
Success in social media takes time. Think of it as a marathon and not a sprint. Dependant on your monetary investment, it may take anywhere between 3 to 6 months of consistency before you begin to see any kind of success.
In closing, make sure that you don't solely rely on social media for all of your marketing, as it’s only one part of your marketing mix. Connect your offline customers to your online presence, by placing how you can be found online on all your print material.
How do you connect with your customers now?
Try and give yourself a minimum of one hour each day to connect, listen, and respond others. Then as your efforts become more successful, you may need to dedicate more time.
7. Ask yourself if your expectations are realistic.
Success in social media takes time. Think of it as a marathon and not a sprint. Dependant on your monetary investment, it may take anywhere between 3 to 6 months of consistency before you begin to see any kind of success.
In closing, make sure that you don't solely rely on social media for all of your marketing, as it’s only one part of your marketing mix. Connect your offline customers to your online presence, by placing how you can be found online on all your print material.
How do you connect with your customers now?
Great food for thought that all businesses should consider when thinking about integrating social media into their business. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate you popping by Annemarie. We should connect sometime via Skype!
ReplyDeletedavergallant ,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great list that anyone looking to gain clarity can jump in and gain something from!
Quite often I see businesses skip some important questions you have outlined here, and do not realize things don't just happen. We must walk before we can run.
Excellent!
~Keri
(who can't wait to listen in on a radio show or two)
Great list here Dave! It's good to always defer it back to the business and ask them what is it they want to accomplish in social media. At times they think just because they have a Facebook or Twitter account, they're "doing" social media. Then they found themselves in despair when it's not working for them months down the road. Identifying the strategies as you mentioned here will make for a more successful social media initiative.
ReplyDeleteGreat job!
Jocelyn