Here’s the dirty little secret that most people in the social media world aren’t telling you – like every other marketing channel, IT TAKES STRATEGY AND EFFORT. Just being there is not a win. Those who succeed create value, engage in meaningful conversations, demonstrate consistency, talk with (not at) customers and colleagues, and permeate authenticity every step of the way.
This eBook is intended to help you lay the foundation to your social media efforts. We address the "Why?" before you should even think about the "Where?".
Brought to you by DISRUPTIVE, kick-ass unconventional marketing enthusiasts.
2. Social media is like teen sex.
Everybody wants to do it.
Nobody knows how. When
it’s finally done, there is
surprise it’s not better.
– (as tweeted by) Avinash Kaushik, Google
3. Here’s the dirty little secret that most people
in the social media world aren’t telling you –
like every other marketing channel, it takes
strategy and effort. Just being there is not a
win. Those who succeed create value,
engage in meaningful conversations,
demonstrate consistency, talk with (not at)
customers and colleagues, and permeate
authenticity every step of the way.
In the following pages, you’ll hopefully find
some useful tips, inspiring thoughts and
experience a few “Hmm…never thought of
that before” moments. What you won’t find is
a review of individual social media channels
or down-and-dirty industry-specific strategies
(that’s for Volume II). This guide is meant to
help you lay the foundation for launching your
social media presence.
Now let’s get after it…
4. A marketing person should
always ask one key question
when beginning to develop a
social media strategy: how much
chaos can this organization
handle?
– Gary Stein, VP Strategy, ISOBAR
5. Questions to ask yourself before Do I have a
What are my content
even opening your laptop… competitors creation and
distribution
doing in this
space? plan?
Why would What is my
customers “social media
engage with voice” going
How do I What do my existing
me online? to be?
fuse my customers / brand
online efforts advocates think about
with my social media?
What about
What is the offline ones?
measurement? How
value I will I analyze the
intend to success of my social
provide? Do I need to Are my current
media efforts?
outsource any customers on
components? social media
What are my sites?
Am I going to use social
existing Which ones?
media to attract new Who is going to
marketing customers or connect manage my
plans and What is my
with existing ones? Or social media ultimate
campaigns? both? presence? How much time
goal?
do I have to
commit to this?
Should I create a social media How separate do I want my
communication plan to share personal opinions / attitudes
with employees / outsourced and those of the brand to be? Against which criteria will I choose
talent? Is there a difference? the best social media channels?
6. But the MOST IMPORTANT question
to ask is…..
WHY
*HINT: The answer shouldn’t be:
“because everyone else is doing it!”
7. If you think you are in control,
you’re fooling yourself. As soon
as you start listening, you realize
you’re not in control. And letting
go will yield more and better
results.
– Charlene Li, author
8. A new version of your
message has now been
rebroadcast and awaits
your attention…
You @Bob
@Jane
introduce reacts to
responds
your @Jane’s
with a blog
message post on
post
via Twitter Twitter
9. It is no longer your message…it
is ours. Your audience will test it,
personalize it, discuss it and, if
you do it right, pass it along.
Success lies in your comfort
level with this…
Be flexible and adaptable
Be open-minded and responsive
Be authentic, honest and true to
your brand
10. It’s like a Choose Your Own Adventure book
You build the framework in which your
message lives
Embrace the audience’s need to
choose / customize
Help them to create new stories
11. New marketing is about the
relationships, not the
medium.
– Ben Grossman, founder of BiGMarK
12. Let’s say you’ve decided to invite a group
of close friends over for a dinner party and
it is now menu planning time. Chances are
you mentally begin to ask yourself key
questions:
Who are my guests and what are
their food tastes?
Are there any vegetarians? Any
allergies?
Is this a wine or beer crowd?
How much time do I have and what
level of energy am I willing to put
into cooking?
What types of foods fall in line with
my culinary strengths?
The process for choosing which social
media sandboxes to play in is quite similar.
It involves a healthy chunk of market
insight, a dash of self awareness and a
pinch of multi-tasking prowess.
14. You must Establish a Adapt this
find your content foundation
brand voice creation to social
plan platforms
15. Multi-channel living
Flexible content distribution is king
Different social media sites do not exist
in silos
Learn to cross promote and build a
cohesive and complementary artillery
16. Flexible Content
Distribution Example
You upload
the article to
your blog
You include
the article and You tweet a
various links in link to the
your Facebook article
updates
You author
an article on
You create a
a hot How To checklist
You tweet
industry topic from the
the link to
article’s content
your video and upload to
Slideshare
You produce a
3-minute video You tweet
on the topic and the
post to your Slideshare
website and
link
YouTube channel
17. Marketing is no longer about
the stuff that you make, but
about the stories you tell.
- Seth Godin, sethgodin.typepad.com
18. Now that you’re here…
Why should anybody interact with you?!
Need to determine distribution vehicles (e.g. blog,
Twitter, YouTube)
Engage, engage, engage
Content Creation Starting
Points
What value can I offer?
Are there any information voids
in the market place that
match up with my skills?
What are my passion points?
19. If you make customers unhappy
in the physical world, they might
each tell 6 friends. If you make
customers unhappy on the
Internet, they can each tell 6,000
friends.
- Jeff Bezos, CEO at amazon.com
21. There is no magic bullet to social media
success. There is no instant influx of new
customers that results from simply signing up
for the newest social site. Like everything else,
it takes work, strategy, flexibility and constant
reinvention.
We hope you’ve found some value in these
pages. If nothing else, we wanted to stress the
idea that your first step in the social media
game should be, ironically, a quite anti-social
process – sit back, contemplate the “Why?”,
determine what your goals are, and game
plan how you’re going to achieve them.
Then go out and make that sh*t happen.