If you are interested in social media in Ireland a new blog to watch is SocialMediaExpert.ie. In their first blog post they comment:
Unfortunately it’s also far too easy for people to take advantage of others. The “web” is full of self-appointed “experts” and “gurus” who charge stupid amounts of money.
Enough already! Just because you’ve read a couple of articles about marketing doesn’t make you a “professional marketer”.
So what if you can record your own voice on your laptop. You’re still not a “professional podcaster”.
And as for Twitter, Facebook and the plethora of other “social media” sites .. they act as magnets for the vocal yet inept.
How true. There are the Twitter ‘experts’ who have never earned a Euro of business in their few months on Twitter and who are now running workshops; then there are the PR firms who are telling their clients they are experts in online PR but don’t have a business blog, who have little credibility in their communication style and have no idea about the benefits of online press releases.
SocialMediaExpert.ie is hoping that their questions on their blog will encourage other people to share their experiences to inform and help the community. so why not go on over and share your ideas and experiences with them?
One of their posts caught my attention – about the fact that social media is not a checklist – in other words companies setting up accounts with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, IGOpeople, a wiki, a few social book marking tools, getting a free account at Blogger for their business blog and hosting a few audios on Utterli or their TV advert on their YouTube account.
They go on to say:
Their online venture probably underperforms, even though they’ve probably paid a silly amount of money to a “consultant” whose credentials were probably incredibly thin..
So what should they be doing?
How should they be doing it?
Should they even do it?
How can they be shown that doing it properly may pay dividends?
As many social media platforms are ‘free’ and have a low barrier to entry, that many small businesses are starting to explore them (though I’d like some larger organisations do more too) – which is great – however just because you can does not mean that you should.
Here are my 10 key areas for you to consider BEFORE jumping into the sea of social media platforms. This will probably seem over bureaucratic to many people but this is written in the context of a large organisation and on my experience in FTSE top 20 companies as well as micro businesses:
1. Clarify your business goals so that you can determine how social media can support you and who you want to connect with online e.g. is that customers, potential customers, joint venture partners – what are your priorities?
2. Set up the means to learn and listen to what people are talking about including your business (products, services and people) competitors, customers and potential clients – where are they congregating, what are they saying and what does this mean for your business?
3. Establish your priorities for your social media plan so that you know what you will be measuring and can evaluate if your investment is worthwhile
4. Identify the resources that you will use to support you – are these internal or external – consider not just the financials but also the time you have available to invest
5. Develop a plan for your content – too many ‘social media’ or ‘digital marketing’ agencies will suggest that you have a ‘campaign’ as a way of ‘ticking the social media box’ on your digital marketing plan – that’s not always the appropriate way to start
6. Identify your core team – the other people in your organisation and beyond who need to be informed and engaged e.g. the sales team, customer services, HR or legal
7. Consider writing your social media ‘terms of engagement’ – this is especially important in a larger organisation so that there is clarity about how (timing, content and tone as examples) you will engage with bloggers, respond to comments and who needs to be involved within the organisation
8. Explore and prioritise social media platforms – you don;t need to start everything at once. Instead, identify one or two platforms that you believe will be relevant and of interest to your audience – you might even want to do a pilot programme or start inside the organisation before an external launch of your new place in cyberspace
9. Find and invest in trusted resources to educate you in social media – that you can use to learn and then apply the ideas to your business – from speaking to others, working with an external agency, reading books or articles, listening to podcasts or attending events and workshops
10. Implement, measure and adapt – make time to test what you are implementing, measure it’s effectiveness, integrate it fully into all your marketing and communications plans and adapt as you learn about social media as it applies to your business.
That’s my top 10 – but what have I missed? Over to you…
May 18th, 2009 at 7:58 am
I agree with much of this, but you’ve let yourself down. One clear indicator of a triumph of marketing over common sense is top ten lists.
1. Think again.
2. Think twice.
3. Avoid repetition.
4. Stop before it’s too late!
Love,
Dean Whitbread, Professional Podcasterist and Leaver of Comments.
May 18th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Thanks for highlighting this article and link Krishna. I couldn’t agree more with the sentiments expressed. I have recent experience of someone, not in marketing, only a couple of months ago sending out poorly written, construced, and unsolicited emails who is now offering courses in twitter. But, they have lots of practice in tweeting! Our value and profession is accordingly devalued.
May 18th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Well done on a comprehensive list Krishna. To expand on No. 9, I would recommend looking for examples of other people to model. It’s important to be authentic when networking online and also to feel at ease. By modelling someone who has got it right (in your opinion), you can shorten the learning curve.
May 18th, 2009 at 9:29 am
This is all so valid and thanks for making us aware of this new site. Social Media is just another piece of armoury in your marketing and communications tool kit. There is no doubt we need to understand it and its relevance to the particular business/product or service which will be different every time you look at the best media tools to reach a given target audience. What is vital to business is that they start with the basics of what are they trying to achieve or problem to solve. Then second most important element, do they know their customer & behaviour; their prospect customer and above all how to be relevant in their communications message even before they choose the tool to deliver this in the most timely and effective way. Communications effectiveness is what we should be aiming for. Off to check out the site. Sharon
May 18th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Thanks for that post Krishna. As people rush into social media they can often forget the fundamentals.
May 18th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
@Una – I think – and hope – that the good content will rise to the top. The issue is though is incorrect education is made available and that doesn’t help people starting out.
@Louise – great point – and I agree – model NEVER copy – I had an up and coming social media and online marketing person (being positioned as an expert in the area) from the US literally take my LinkedIn profile and make a few minor tweaks then publish it as their own. It was only by chance that found it as they are in my network online – I did call them and they did change it. I just thought it funny and frustrating that someone who is meant to know about marketing online would do this. How i would love to tell you who it was….
@Sharon – a great reminder thanks ‘What is vital to business is that they start with the basics of what are they trying to achieve or problem to solve’
@Eoin – that’s where people like you and agencies like yours are critical – a PR firm who implements social media themselves and who walks the talk.