Friday, May 1, 2009

Social Media: Getting Started

Many executives are wondering how their companies can get started in the social media (SoMe) milieu. If you are one of them, you should be aware that this is still an evolving platform for marketing. As such, it demands a higher level of strategic planning than traditional marketing.

Perhaps a company might have formerly been able to develop new business and retain current clients simply by advertising, direct mail, maintaining a storefront or Web site and by telemarketing. Social networking – the use of various Web 2.0 tools, such as blogging, chat groups, forums, online communities and SoNet platforms like Twitter and Facebook – is radically changing all of this, however. SocialMediaToday calls it "the Social Media Revolution." BusinessWeek claims it "will change your business."

FACT: Our world is changing technologically and demographically.

FACT: Traditional marketing and advertising is making less of an impact on today’s decision-maker.

FACT: Small and midsized businesses could greatly benefit by creating the types of networks and communal resources that are typically only afforded by large corporations.

At Group 221, we were recently approached by a company seeking help in developing a prototype social media marketing strategy. Involved in the travel industry, the company was a leader in their niche, while managing to operate with only 40 or so employees. They had come to a crossroads in the corporation’s lifespan: Their customers’ needs, desires and habits were changing rapidly, while the company’s methodology continued to remain mired in the “old ways” of marketing and communicating. They were searching for new ideas.

Our client quickly grasped the concept that SoMe could help them build a loyal and committed community. They found that our phrase, “a social media marketing strategy allows you to entertain, educate and engage,” resonated and aligned with their corporate goal to become “the go-to place” for their customer base of small, entrepreneurial companies being recruited into a membership program.

Their biggest concern was the manpower resources that might be required. We promised to address this during the course of the project. We agreed to present our new client with a plan that would a) analyze their audience, competition and current status, b) provide them with a nuts-and-bolts, step-by-step social media plan and c) help them determine what resources – internally and/or externally – they would need to achieve their objectives. Our plan was as follows:

Action Plan for Creating Social Media Strategy

1. Group 221 provides the client with a series of proprietary worksheets to serve as a comprehensive questionnaire concerning their business, the competition, current situation and their goals and objectives. We review the worksheets with the client, item by item.

2. We then perform independent research to review the client’s product, what the competition is doing and how to reach the prospective customer.

a. People: Who are your prospects and customers, and how do they feel about your brand, service and products? Are they talking about you online? If so, what is your online reputation? (Positive, negative, neutral?)
b. Competition: What are your competitors doing online? Where can we leapfrog them? What is their online reputation?
c. Prospective Customers: How do your prospects wish to converse? How can you effectively use SoMe to communicate your company’s benefits and gain an audience among professional travel buyers most likely to purchase your product?

3. Group 221 then presents the client with a summary of our findings, recommended tactics to follow and a suggested timetable.

4. We study, analyze and identify resources to implement our client’s plan.

5. We typically provide them with a timetable that schedules activities on a graduated level of intensity. Ordinarily, our clients prefer to start out gradually so that results can be analyzed and quantified.

Conclusion

Companies wishing to excel in today’s environment must, in most cases, adapt themselves to the new methods of communicating. A company that accepts that SoMe needs to be part of their strategic roadmap for survival, must also be willing to allocate some upfront time and brainpower to better understand the “road conditions”; what avenues their customers and competition are taking and what direction they should be taking.

Sharon Drechsler, Group 221

No comments:

Post a Comment