Image by ‘Pong via FlickrLiz Strauss featured the brilliant Terry Starbucker recently, who laid out a series of questions he asks potential clients when pitching social media –
- Are you ready to have public conversations?
- How pervasive are your Social Media users in your customer base?
- What is your sensitivity to negativity?
- How are your current “conversational” avenues working?
- Do you understand the medium and how to speak in it?
These are spectacular questions. Many potential clients I meet are interested in social media marketing because everybody else is doing it. That in itself is not a good reason to get started. The response to Terry’s questions is a great indicator of whether your company is ready, willing, and able to engage social media effectively.
Many companies don’t know how many of their customers use social media. Luckily, it’s easy to find out it. An excellent first step is to canvas social media sites to see what segments of your current customer base and what types of potential customers are out there.
Don’t forget potential customers and new customer segments. Even if your existing customers are nowhere to be found on social media, you might find a whole new group of prospects who are out there en masse.
One final question …
Assuming the response to Terry’s questions is positive, I like to ask one other question. Do you have the resources to support a social media marketing effort? This is so very important. You can’t think of social media marketing as a “campaign”. It doesn’t have a beginning or an end or even a structure in the usual business sense the word. Social media marketing is an ongoing, ever-changing process.
Social media takes a good bit of time and/or money. If you are short on time, you can outsource certain activities. If you are short on cash, you can do it yourself and spend very little. It’s usually best when employees are the public face of a company’s social media program, but for that to happen, the company needs employees (or one employee) who have the time and the desire to write, listen, and engage in conversations.
You really have to determine your time and financial resources in advance. Otherwise, what usually happens is this. A program is launched either with great fanfare or in the bowels of the organization and the whole thing peters out in a few months due to unmet expectations or lack of interest.
But here’s the good news. You can get results in social media on any time and financial budget. Sure, it will take longer if you move slowly, but so what? Slow progress beats the pants off no progress. And, if you see early results – and I’ve seen it happen – you can always ramp up.
Which is one thing I love about social media marketing (and even paid search marketing for that matter) versus most “traditional” alternatives – flexibility. When you commit to a print ad program or a direct mail campaign, you’re committed. If you spend $10,000 on ad placements that don’t refer leads … better luck next year. If you need 100,000 mailings to reach critical mass for meaningful ROI, cutting back to 50,000 won’t do you a whole lot of good.
With social media marketing, you really pay as you go. That’s reason enough to start answering these questions … even if no one outside the box is asking!
What about your company? Do you think social media can work for you?
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Brad, excellent questions and a great discussion. These days I am even more adamant about delving deeper and setting realistic expectations about the time and ROI of social media. I believe it is vital to get customers quickly past “ooh new shiny, everyone’s doing it,” to helping them understand how it can fit in their organization, and what they should expect to give and gain. I do believe that social media has a place in any business but like all marketing, the business has to be willing to commit to it. A tool is only as valuable as the application.
Karen, You are right as rain to take that approach. The fact is, though, you see companies putting forth half hearted efforts on even traditional marketing programs like newsletters and print ads. Efforts just fizzle out after a so-so effort gets so-so results (or worse). What I’m trying to say is, this problem of commitment is not limited to social media marketing.
Hi Brad – what a great extension of my conversation on Liz Strauss’ blog!
You are so right about resources – my business is asking itself your questions right now. Luckily, because we’re only “sticking our toes in the water”, we’re confident we can get ‘er done with existing people.
Thanks for keeping this going, and see you in Chicago in May!
Regards,
Terry
Hi Terry, With you around, something tells me your company can’t miss with social media. I’ve really been trying to stress the flexibility factor – just because some companies spend hours a week online doesn’t mean everyone has to in order to be successful. Managing expectations is the important thing.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Is Your Company Ready for Social Media Marketing?
Interesting article, Brad. Though I’m a one-person operation, I know my resources to do well in social media are limited.
I’ve awarded you the Premio Dardos Award. You can read the details on my blog.
Lillie Ammanns last blog post..The Premio Dardos Award
Hi Lillie, We “single shingle” operations must conserve researches if we are to keep a roof over our heads! I think you are wise to proceed carefully, though we do miss you on Twitter. And thank you for the Premio Dardos Award. I am honored.
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Many marketers are attracted to network marketing online and social media because of the reduced costs compared to expensive television, radio and newspaper ads. Moreover, today’s internet users want personal interactions with those they do business with before they make a buying decision. Social media marketing for instance, which taps into a familiar concept called attraction marketing or magnetic sponsoring, lets you build relationships with your targeted audience. Social media sites such as FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter and Digg can help establish your presence in a number of different places on the Web. Traditional marketing will never be able to target as precisely as social media marketing. Just imagine the social media profit you can have in being able to recruit people from different places.
It think the 5 questions that ask whether a business is ready for social media are really important. As you mentioned, using social media as part of your marketing is so different to a straight forward campaign, it is completely public and you actually come into direct contact, in the form of conversations with customers who may be critical about you.
I agree with what you say about finding a member of staff that has the time and determination to spend each and every day conversing with customers.