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I'm part of a group which is presenting a social media conference, Social Fresh, in Charlotte, Monday, August 24 at the Holiday Inn Center City. Consider this your invitation to attend. You can register here. We have a host of excellent presenters already signed on, including fiend Jim Deitzel from Rubbermaid.
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SourceWatch is a wiki that calls itself "your guide for the names behind the news." The Center for Media and Democracy began it to provide a directory of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda. Profiles on the site make for interesting reading. I'll let you decide if think they lean left or right or stay in the middle.
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I've told you about the Twittering Journalists Wiki I started to keep up with journalists who were on Twitter. Well, the folks at Cision have done me one better. They have recently launched JournalistTweets. It's still in Beta but it offers you the ability to search by country, by beat and by name. Give it a test drive.
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Hello again. Social media seems to be on everyone's mind these days. So, let's look at the strategic approach to implementing a social media program.
Could you do me a favor? Please forward this newsletter to someone who would be interested in our advertising, PR and social media information.
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Creatively yours,
Harry Hoover
harry@my-creativeteam.com |
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| Social Media: Strategic Or Tactical? |
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By Harry Hoover
A friend asked me recently to talk with him about social media. He has an international client that still focuses on the traditional methods of reaching influencers, the channel and consumers. He wants to think through whether social media is viable for this brand. So, that got me thinking about the nature of social media. This is the first in a series of posts about social media planning.
During my more than 30 years in communications there is one thing that has become clear to me: strategy should come first. So, it's no surprise that I believe that you should outline your social media strategy first and then the tactics will typically fall into place. Lee Odden has a good post outlining the possible outcomes a social media program might include:
- Gain insight into a community of interest - You can run all the customer surveys you want, but some of the most interesting and progressive market research can be found within the social communities where your customers interact, share information and make recommendations. Tapping into the streams of dialog is a great start to engagement and social participation with your brand.
- Build brand visibility and authority - You've heard it before, "Conversations are happening online about your brand, with or without you." You might as well participate and do so in a way that pays close attention to the interests and needs of your customers - providing them with information and interactions that further support your brand.
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| Social Media Questions |
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By Harry Hoover
Now that we have talked about the strategic approach to social media, it's time to start asking some serious questions about your target audience.
Is it going to be the end consumer, strategic allies or channel partners? Architects, for instance, could deliver more value to you than the person living in the home. This doesn't preclude you from having a program for all channels. But it is best to go after the best customer first.
So, who is your best "customer"? What demographic, psychographic and geographic attributes do they have? What do they need or want from you?
Where will you find them? What are their media habits - both online and offline? What's the best way to reach and interact with them?
Based on this knowledge, what should be the focus of your online or social networking presence? Are they looking for fact-based information, inspiration or both? Or perhaps a digital customer service approach is the best way to go.
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