Your Social Media Marketing Strategy: 4 Things to Remember

July 20, 2008 by James
Filed under: Internet Marketing, Social Media 

SMM Strategy

Social Media Marketing

Many a company has forgotten the old maxim, “Act in haste, repent at your leisure…”

The same warning should be applied to companies rushing to get in on the social media marketing wave.

If you hear things at work like “We should have a blog,” or “Let’s join Facebook,” I suggest [respectfully] that maybe you are about to make a whopper of a mistake.

Here’s why…

Backwards is bad

You are starting your social media strategy design backwards - and this will lead to trouble.

In any other business endeavor we start by figuring out what we want to accomplish. Social media technologies are not magical. They’re just tools too. It’s time to stop doing social media marketing because it’s trendy and instead do it because it works!

4 Things to Remember

1 - The web is about people. You need to know your audience. Understand their capabilities, their hangouts online, their language and behaviors. If you’re targeting business travelers then consider rating and review sites for example. Just don’t guess…

2 - Figure out what will be different when you are done. This is the “why” behind your plans. Do you want to create a close knit community or a product testing ground. Understand the motive’s behind your actions.

3 - What outcomes and objectives are you seeking to achieve. Consider the end result and how you will measure it. A fuzzy or fluffy end result is almost as bad as not specifying one at all. How will you measure success?

4 - What technology to choose. Only answer this question when you’ve completed the others because then you’ll know with clarity and confidence.

In conclusion, if you recognize classic business planning and management principles amongst these notes you’d be correct. The game may have changed, but the rules are still the same. Plan first, then act with confidence.

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Comments

2 Responses to “Your Social Media Marketing Strategy: 4 Things to Remember”

  1. Linda Margaret on July 21st, 2008 4:27 pm

    These are good general rules for planning a strong social media marketing strategy, thanks! Our clients often seek such advice when they begin monitoring social media through our software. We have begun to offer more industry/language specific advice as well. Through monitoring and measuring social media around your brand, product or service, it’s easy to see which source (forum? blog?) is your best audience in which language and country.

  2. Gwynn on July 24th, 2008 12:21 am

    It’s amazing how much the right approach and a good action plan can help one generate more business. Of course, the first step in all this is understanding the immense sales potential of moving one’s business online. Believe it or not, there are still many businesses that don’t!

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