But ever since social media became a THING, it has attracted a lot of what we might politely call aspirationally assertive advisors. Which is to say they are long on attitude and short on experience. Primarily because the field is still so new it is making itself up as it goes along. And that's ok, if your business or agency or policy is not dependent for its survival on the success of whatever strategy you are attempting to understand, let alone embrace, while paying for same.
The problem originated with its provenance. By which we mean that social media emerged just as the world was plunging into the worst financial crisis it had seen since the Great Depression. Companies were frantically shedding any asset or individual not deemed absolutely mission critical or essential to explaining the need for retaining senior executive bonuses.
Social media was a proverbial lifeline for corporate communications and marketing, as well as for the agencies that support them. Everyone was talking about it, when they werent watching with horror as their investment portfolios disintegrated. So it became a test of one's relevance to talk about one's social media strategy. For those who had survived the DotCom era, there was a faint whiff of nostalgia, as social media was freighted with Meaning that would have embarrassed a South Seas Cargo Cult.
That penchant for irrational exuberance carried over to the investment community, perennially scanning the horizon for the next big thing rivaling the dotcoms, which never seemed to arrive. Social media became IT, until that pesky monetization issue arose. As in, yeah we see a lot of people posting pictures of themselves putting a lip lock on gallon-sized vodka bottles or snuggling with their grandchildren, but how do we make a buck from all that? So Facebook's IPO face-planted and everyone realized that this whole getting rich at business thing isnt as easy as it seemed.
Which leads us to the following article that explains where any sensible business might now want to be with regard to social. Convergence is the key: nothing does everything on its own. If your social media strategy is not intricately connected with the rest of your strategy, it's just wrong. And anyone who tells you different is ripping you off. JL
Anjani Mullany comments in Fast Company:
If social media consultants are doing their jobs, they should put themselves out of business. I speak as one of their kind. Before joining Fast Company last spring, I was the social media editor at the New York Daily News. So I'll say it even bolder: At some point, Fast Company should fire me. (Just not too soon, please!)
Your company will never be truly social if you silo social activity within a consultant or a staff manager. To facilitate proliferation, your consultant should learn how your company works, then create a strategy to spread social throughout your organization. But in the meantime, here's what you should be hearing from your consultant:
1 "What's your goal?" Some social media gurus think the big prize is community. That's a fine start, but for a business, it's also a means to an end--which is whatever your company's larger goals are, whether they be sales, brand awareness, or traffic. Your social strategy should not end with the creation of an online conversation.
2 "Here's the ROI." Consultants may tell you that social investments can't be justified in a quantifiable way. Wrong. The data is out there. If they want you to spend $75,000 on a Foursquare badge, they should explain how that investment will help you reach your goals.
3 "I don't care about follower counts." Companies obsess over how many followers they have, and consultants play to that. But Facebook ads and "Like this page" contests often don't boost consumer engagement. Rather, you should be courting influencers--trusted insiders with engaged followers (such as bloggers, niche celebrities, or active tweeters), who can help spread your message.
4 "Facebook and Twitter are only a start." Consultants should know which platforms are best for your businesses. For example, if you are a fashion designer and your consultant isn't talking about collage platform Polyvore, they're doing something wrong.
5 "Let's look at data." Your consultant should find smart ways to interpret data that platforms provide, and track down new data sources as well. She should also identify the best social measurement, management, and listening tools for your company's needs, so you can look up those data yourself after she's gone.
Roadmap to social media: surefire rules, data, and expert wisdom guaranteed to show why this market is completely unpredictable.
And when you're given data, double-check them. I once worked with an agency that presented steep graphs to convince me their engagement efforts had scaled. A close inspection revealed the numbers were actually low--but after repeated requests, the agency was unable (or unwilling) to provide me with specifics about the best times to post, best content to post, and who was most engaged with us. That shouldn't happen.
6 "Your website should be social." Don't just rely on other platforms. Your consultant should optimize your own site for sharing and data collection. To start, connect to Facebook's Open Graph and measure social activity--including "likes"--within your domain, in addition to measuring that activity within Facebook itself.
7 "I'm not a social media guru." Good. Because if she says she is, she probably isn't.
The Experts, Translated
How well do brands really understand social? We heard a lot of buzzwords--and a lot of uncertainty.
WHAT THEY SAID
"We like to listen."
WHAT THEY MEANT
"We hired a 24-year-old to stand in front of a firehose of complaints."
WHAT THEY SAID
"That data isn't available yet."
WHAT THEY MEANT
"That data is embarrassing."
WHAT THEY SAID
"We're inspired by Coca-Cola's social media strategy."
WHAT THEY MEANT
"Everyone taks about Coca-Cola's social media strategy. By referencing it, we sound informed."
WHAT THEY SAID
"Our strategy is in line with our values."
WHAT THEY MEANT
"We talk about ourselves."
WHAT THEY SAID
"We're doing something very different."
WHAT THEY MEANT
"We're doing something very different from what we were doing in 1980."
WHAT THEY SAID
"We're building community."
WHAT THEY MEANT
"We promoted a hashtag once, and it was a little scary but seemed to work out fine."
WHAT THEY SAID
"We're being authentic."
WHAT THEY MEANT
"We're extremely on-message."
WHAT THEY SAID
"We're meeting customers where they're comfortable."
WHAT THEY MEANT
"Nobody visits our corporate website."
WHAT THEY SAID
"Social media allows us to understand the pulse of the customer."
WHAT THEY MEANT
"We all get into a room and freak out."
WHAT THEY SAID
"This is all very new and exciting."
WHAT THEY MEANT
"Do you have any advice? We could really use some advice."
0 comments:
Post a Comment