Social Media Success: Developing A Social Media Strategy

A common reason for businesses moving into the online space is because “everyone else is doing it”. And while this may be true, it is not an acceptable purpose for an organization to commit valuable time and resources to the cause. Instead, start asking questions around what your organization wants to accomplish with social media:

• What business functions will social media perform? (ie: Customer Service, Business Development, Content Curation, Thought Leadership)
• Where is your target audience/consumers? (This will help answer the effective channels to use)
• What are your competitors doing in this space?
• Are there any best practices currently in your industry?
• From evaluating your competition, are there strategic social media intiatives not being done which could lead to a competitive advantage?
• What are the tangible deliverables and measurements that will determine success/progress?

What are the organization’s over-arching business goals? How is the social media strategy going to integrate into the overall business goals and big picture of where the organization is headed? Needless to say before an effective social media strategy can be integrated, the organization must have a well defined strategy that not only defines how the organization operates currently, but how it will progress and grow in the future.

Another reason why an integrated strategic approach is more effective is because it requires buy-in and engagement from the leaders and decision makers of the organization. If they see the potential value in a social media strategy they will be much more willing to accept the strategy and create an environment where the social media goals and objectives can be met.

Is your Organization ready for social?

I recently watched a great keynote presentation by Social Media Leader and founder of Socialized, Shane Gibson (if you want to stay up to date with the most cutting edge social media practices in business, I would highly recommend keeping tabs on Shane- watch the full social media presentation or check out the socialized business blog!). Before diving into the dynamics of corporate social media strategy, Shane discusses the importance of understanding where your organization and employees stand in their adoption of social media. Are your key employees, managers, and executives willing to adopt and incorporate this social media strategy into their culture, or are you going to have to address resistance at some levels?

If your whole organization isn’t ready for social media today- that’s Okay, and it doesn’t mean that you cannot begin implementation. Instead, you can incorporate this into your social media strategy and roadmap:

• If there are employees, managers, or executives that are not yet on board, how are you going to facilitate that learning process, reduce barriers of resistance?
• If implementation is today, what is the timeline for bringing people on board?
• How do you reduce resistance, increase acceptance without wasting resources?

While it may be ideal to involve a large number of people in the ultimate social media strategy, it is important to identify the individuals who are supportive (in many cases these will be people who have somewhat figured out social media on their own) and who are willing and interested to help — get them involved! Again, don’t underestimate the importance of taking the time to understand how these individuals can play the best role from a strategic lens… At every step, take the time to think of and ask the right questions:

• Who are the internal supporters of the strategy?
• Based on these supporters and their positions in the organization how can you best leverage the additional time and energy?
• Is there a way to empower these individuals so that they are contributing to the social media efforts but also benefitting their own personal growth (learning, exposure, rewards)?
• Who (if any) are the external supporters of the strategy?
• Is there a way to leverage these connections to help accomplish the strategies goals and objectives?

Measure, Evaluate, Evolves

The past years of economic instability have shown us how important it is for businesses to understand how their strategy is functioning currently, and having an awareness of what is to come. These same criteria are highly valuable in a social media strategy. There are many ways to measure social influence, reach, scope, and traffic, pick the metrics that align with the strategic goals and evaluate your progress. While I argue that at its core, the function of social media is nothing new, the tools are, and so there will be the need to re-adjust, try new things, and accept mistakes or mis-steps when they happen. That is okay! If you are willing to accept each evaluation as a learning experience, you will only develop a more effective strategy with time!

What is Your Strategy?