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Social Media Marketing An Hour A Day, For Dummies, Do You Tweet? Avoiding Social Media Guilt
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Social Media Marketing (SMM)... Everyone is doing it? Is everyone doing it? What works, and what doesn't? Marketers today may feel guilty if they do not Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Flikr, LinkedIn, and everything else. But what is social media marketing really about? What is 'social media guilt,' and how can you avoid it?
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By Jason McDonald
Senior SEO Instructor - JM Internet Group.
Posted: September 8, 2010
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Contents:
Social Media Marketing and Social Media Guilt
Social Media Marketing (SMM) has been the new wave among marketers for some time. Everyone wants to jump from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. There are books out on 'Social media marketing in an hour a day' or the infamous, 'Social media marketing for dummies.' Your boss or management may be breathing down your neck daily - are you Tweeting? Are you Facebooking? What is our LinkedIn strategy? How many friends do you have? How many do your competitors have? What is your Tweet volume, and how do your followers stack up against their followers.
The opportunities may have expanded - from just the Web to blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn and beyond... But there are still only so many hours in a marketing day, and still only so many dollars in a marketing budget. Twitter, in particular, has an addictiveness to it that is unmatched in the online world (at least outside of the gaming and pornography sectors).
Social Media Guilt is that nagging feeling that you are not doing enough social media... That you really should be blogging, Twittering, Facebooking, etc., but there just aren't enough hours in the day. Social Media Guilt is that feeling that you are a bad marketer because you aren't doing it all... You aren't taking advantage of everything free out there... Just like real-world guilt, it makes you feel bad and hurts your self-esteem. And, just like real-world guilt, one of the cures is to be realistic about what you can do, and to ruthlessly jettison anything that isn't appropriate!
Results Matter.
If Social Media Marketing is really part of marketing, then it stands to reason that your SMM should be tested to the same criteria that you should test the other attributes of your marketing efforts. Marketing basics -
- Is the marketing effort generating new customers? How many? At what cost in terms of time and/or dollars?
- Is the marketing effort transforming potential customers into actual customers, and actual customers into customer evangelists?
- Is the marketing effort deepening your customer relationships? It's not just about new sales leads, after all, but is also about relationship marketing.
Beyond that, not every social media venue is applicable to every business. We see people Twitter, all the time, for example, only to realize at some later date that all these Tweets are dogs-chasing-their-tails, marketers talking just to other marketers, or what is worse marketers talking to Tweet bots! So the antidote to social media guilt is focusing your marketing on those areas of social media that can provide the most bang for the buck for your company.
Your Social Media Marketing Plan: a Way to Avoid Guilt
Good marketing is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, to quote Edison. The same holds true for Social Media Marketing. You need to plan, and have a strategy. That's where your Social Media Marketing Plan comes in. As we explain in our classes on Social Media Marketing, your plan should -
- Clearly state your company's marketing objectives.
- Analyze the best venues for achieving those objectives in the social media universe
- Outline a clear, step-by-step plan for -
- Listen - listening to the on-going social media conversation
- Launch - identifying your step-by-step plans to create an account, get started, and begin conversing.
- Participate - social media is very much about an on-going relationship, or conversation, so be prepared to participate in an on-going way.
The SMM Plan should identify synergies between your company and the appropriate social media marketing venue. Companies that can offer coupons and discounts, for example, like the Dell Outlet or the local women's clothing store may do very well to nurture their Twitter fans and distribute 'insider' coupons or discounts to their Twitter followers. Companies whose products are expensive and complex, in contrast, can't really use a discount or 'loyalty program' strategy and will find Twitter a lot less attractive.
Companies that sell products that are fun, informative, and almost cult-like like organic food (think Whole Foods) can find Facebook an amazing venue to build relationships. Others, like family law attorneys may find it very difficult to use the fun and friendly Facebook interface to friend, befriend, and chit-chat about divorce issues.
What works for one company will not work for another. To avoid social media guilt, focus your efforts on those venues that 'make sense' for your company, and be ruthless about ignoring the others. Twitter is amazing for some companies, but for many it is a huge waste of time. So it is also for Facebook, Youtube, and LinkedIn.
Beyond Social Media Guilt
The Internet has changed everything. Nothing has changed. Twitter has changed everything. Nothing has changed. How many times have we seen this 'revolution,' before? In the mid-1990's, everyone had to have a website, regardless of what it did, or how it worked. Today it seems like everyone MUST Tweet or die. Tomorrow, no doubt, we will all get a more balanced view of social media and learn to see the nuances and possible matches between social media and our own marketing goals.
Integrated marketing - getting your 'real world' marketing, your website, your email marketing, your social media marketing - all to work together... That is the Holy Grail of marketing. Avoiding social media guilt means realizing that only some pieces of the puzzle 'make sense' for your company, and only some aspects work well together.
It's not participate in every social media. Or do nothing. Its choose and be smart.
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