The biggest buzz words in any professional circle today are “Social Media.” What is it? How do you use it? If you have Facebook/Twitter is that it? How do you know if it’s working? Who’s supposed to do it? — It becomes a giant mess when companies start to think it through. It is really hard to resist the urge of speaking directly with your client base. They have feedback that you desperately want, and it’s right there for the taking.
Or is it?
Many companies today are creating social media policies and strategies thinking they know what they’re doing once they’ve read a few articles. The problem being is you cannot just fall into social media marketing. It is like anything else – needs to be studied and carefully constructed for the optimal results.
There are two people that are needed to pull of an excellent social media strategy: the Social Media Strategist and the Community Manager. The Strategist is the overall brain stormer, the one who makes things happen in the big picture with all of the technical aspects of the project. The Community Manager sits in house and connects with the community. The CM will act as the project manager, the online marketing director, customer services, sales, event planner, and face of the brand. This person will be full time social media in your company and put your brand everywhere it will go. They must be a jack of all trades and master of social media and networking.
Together, these two people will acheive your goals in every aspect. They will NOT just use facebook and twitter to get your brand across. That is only 3% of what they’re job is.
If you are not ready to pull the trigger on a full blown initiative, you are not ready to tackle it on your own. Sit down with a consultant first to take inventory of your business, your current talent, and where you’d like to see your business in a year or two. This might included a strategist and a community manager, and it might just mean having your customer service share one account to interact with people.
Think it through with various people and departments. Don’t just get a facebook fan page and twitter account and think your job is done. Consult professionals!