We’ve all heard the saying “Don’t jump in head first”. The same applies to social media. Many businesses dive right into using social marketing before they are ready. The opportunites to interact with and learn from customers are endless when the power of social media is used appropriately.
Jeremiah Owyang of Forbes.com devised a checklist for businesses on how to prepare yourself for social media. Here are some of Northcutt Media’s favorites from that list:
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Know your customer: Understand there are many social technologies your customers could be using. From Facebook, LinkedIn, and You Tube; recognize what best fits your business and your audience. However, don’t take a shotgun approach and decide that your company needs to utilize each and every social media avenue out there, that’s never automatically the best solution. Analyze your target demographic and find out what social media venues they use and care about.
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Plan for the worst: Bad news travels fast in social media. Develop a plan on how to react to negative comments. Remember to leave no problem unsolved and always, always, always take an “agree and disarm” approach.
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Have a way to measure: Like traditional media, social media needs to be measureable. If you do not have measurements in place then you have no idea where you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck.
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Be prepared to fail: Plan for mistakes to happen. New strategies with new media will pose a risk for your company and will require tweaking along the way; stuff happens. The worst thing you can do is ignore the possibility that a negative post, blog, or video can spread like wildfire on the internet and not have a contingency plan in place to put out the flames.
Social marketing is unique. It is driven by relationships. Directly participating with your customers changes the way they think, act, and evaluate your business.
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