You need a strategy and content plan before launching social media tools

Lately I’ve received calls and emails from existing clients and new prospects seeking ways to use social media tools. They want to find out how to set up a Twitter account, exploit the ins and outs of LinkedIn, create a Facebook business page, and maybe even learn about GooglePlus so they’re ready when Google admits brands to its new platform.

Some of these people are pretty smart about their requirements. In many cases, however, I discover that two things are missing:

1. A commitment to developing an overall marketing or communications strategy first, before diving into social media. If you don’t know what your goals are, or who your target market is, how can you even dream of reaching them? And how would you measure success?
2. The allocation of resources for content development, curation and publishing. Think about this: After you’ve set up your cool-looking Facebook page, put a snazzy avatar on Twitter, and added fancy plug-ins to your WordPress blog, what are you going to say? Do you have a plan for curating, creating and publishing content?

Spending a few days hashing out your communications strategy and then planning your content flow will make the whole process of “using” social media a lot more effective.

I’m assuming here, perhaps too optimistically, that the organization in question is already monitoring mentions of their brands and their key people on the Web.

Do you agree? Easier said than done? Do people argue with you when you say “There’s no such thing as a Twitter strategy”?

Comments

[Sue Horner]

As always, wise counsel, Donna! Always better to do the planning FIRST rather than after the fact.

[Amysept]

I'm learning that this is significantly easier said than done - I blame social media's celebrity for it!

From my experience, it's a gift for someone to say "We're thinking of getting started with social media, can you point us in the right direction?"

More often than not, people have already figured out what they want to do (create a Facebook Page, usually) before they ask for help, without considering goals, target market, or even other networks.

I also find that people are often suspicious of paying for advice for tools they can use "for free". (I know the "it's not free" rationale, but that's the sort of info that seems to have a pretty niche audience!)

I'm trying to figure out how best to educate on the fly...no clear solutions yet.

[Donna Papacosta]

Thanks for the comments, Sue and Amy. There were also a few comments via Twitter along the lines of: "Many forget the plan to keep it going after set-up, just feel they need to do it" and "They know they should plan, but they don't." One sarcastic comment said that I was stating the obvious. I don't think so. Not a week goes by that I don't hear from someone who jumped into social media and THEN wants to understand why and how to use it. They have no strategy at all. Then they wonder why no one visits the Facebook page with zero content, or why no one follows the anemic Twitter stream. As communicators, I think we still need to do a lot of education among our clients and prospects.

[Susan Crossman]

What worries me even more are clients who feel they aren't ready yet to embrace social media. It is intimidating, for sure, to contemplate adding to an existing workload, and getting used to handling all that social media "real estate" can take some time. Done properly, however, it's well worth the effort!

I find myself in the position of "social media evangelist" surprisingly often, and this holds true in contacts with clients on several continents. Social media marketing can be an extremely powerful tool for business development and I hate to see great organizations headed by superb people get left behind!

Great job raising the importance of planning in all this, Donna -- an organized approach really is the key to success!

[Donna Papacosta]

Good point, Sue C. I too am seeing organizations who are in the "paralysis by analysis" stage when it comes to social media.

[OpEdMarketing]

So true, the way we present it to clients:
Social=Strategy
Tools=Tactics

Social media tools are just the tactics used to execute your strategy, and your strategy should align with your business goals.