One of the fun parts of being in this business is working with companies on their social media strategies. That’s particularly true as more brands move from passive listening to active participation. Even though there is a ton of discussion around the Web about a handful of highly visible companies that are leaders in connecting with consumers online, the fact of the matter is that roughly 95% of Corporate America is not yet involved in social media engagement.
Based on my personal experience with many brands, I see a big shift in this area over the next few years. The question is how many companies are really ready to enter this brave new world. With this in mind, here’s what I suggest companies keep in mind as they develop their online engagement strategies.
- Don’t underestimate the importance. Some companies think it’s no big deal to get someone out responding to people online - until they do it. It’s a 24×7 job and brands that don’t understand the demands and challenges of online participation are doomed for failure. And let’s forget forever the idea of outsourcing this role.
- Pick the right person or team. Give a lot of thought to who will be your online voice. Ideally it is someone who already lives and breathes social media and understands that this is not a 9-to-5 job. Social media doesn’t end at sunset. Having someone who understands this is super important. Jeremiah Owyang’s running list of social media managers is worth bookmarking.
- Minimize the bureaucracy. Brands need to have faith in their strategy and the people running that strategy if they want to succeed. If they think they can pre-plan for every scenario that will occur and every response needs to be run by the legal team before it gets posted then they need to take a step back and re-consider their game plan.
- All participation is not created equal. There are significant differences around the concept of participation. While corporate communicators may have one reason to get involved in online conversations, that may be vastly different than brand marketers, customer service, and others in an organization. It’s actually a bit telling how uncomfortable some corporate marketers feel in this new area. Perhaps customer service, which has been dealing with customers forever, should have a bigger role in corporate social media. If you ask me, a firm grasp of CRM 2.0 is what’s required for success.
- Define the concept of when. A typical global brand is talked about online a lot more than they know or believe until you show them the results of your analysis. That said, there is a fallacy in Corporate America that they have to respond to everything. Not even close. The brands we work with to leverage our TruCast solution for “actionable social media” typically participate in roughly 10% to 15% of total conversations about their brands.
Obviously, there is a lot more that goes into a successful online engagement plan. There is no doubt in my mind, however, that every company will be involved in one way or another within the next five years.
2 comments ↓
Great overview and a call to action for companies still on the fence - are their companies that still don’t get it?
Few thoughts on your bullet list:
1. I think companies and especially marketing directors and C-level execs get scared when we say “it’s a 24×7 job.” A CMO is already having enough troubles sleeping at night with our economy & competitive landscape to worry that she needs to stay online all night/all week. They should know that there are great tools available that help to aggregate, filter discussions about their brands/people and that a team approach does wonders to relive stress.
BTW: In my past job, we did a great job as the “outsourcing” function for finding conversations, but you’re correct - the engagement had to come from the company and their leaders.
2. Jeremiah Owyang (http://twitter.com/jowyang) has a great list. I would also suggest that people who profess “social media strategist” in their title better understand what a cash flow statement is, understand the role of financing and demands in stakeholder rights. Business is still business even with the shiny new toys in social media.
3. The community of followers (and internal staffers) will appreciate honest communications. I don’t see a lot of lawyers who disagree with honesty as a corp. comm. policy, so yes, let the company post/engage/tweet/Utterz and trust them to follow the rules of engagement (and the SEC)
4. Your motivation discussion leads to buy-in. If the CRM team can demonstrate great results ($ saved by solving problems/keeping folks happy) or the internal sales team shows solid connections (deals made online that flipped a competitor’s customer) or marketing (requests for download/RFP following a webinar or virtual event) then all areas of the firm can see the potential - even the old-timers in sales love Salesforce and LinkenIn.
It might be wise to initiate an effort with a Social Media Matrix Model. Pick a leader from each of the disciplines you mention, then add in the IT, developer/design, HR functions and facilitate a planning team for social media implementation. Let them take a break from day jobs to determine how the whole firm can benefit from social media, networks, etc.
5. I’d love to hear more about your TruCast product, but I think it is risky to “ignore” the other 85-90%. If staffed properly, the great ideas might be out there to be discovered - think “Rembrandts in the Attic.” Use the blogosphere as an unfiltered focus group, but take the time to get involved with random constituents. I once advised a Houston-based client to pay attention to a lone blogger (not a so called “A-List”) in New Zealand with a technical problem. He became a huge fan and spread word to other countries - we saw global downloads spike.
Mike, I had to chuckle at your close. I have no doubt that many companies will engage a social media plan and try online engagment. However, I don’t think they’ll have a lot of success if they fake it
Let’s catch up (off blog) soon. Cheers, Adam
Hey thanks Adam. I always enjoy comments longer than my original post! Love to discuss more over a beer.
Mike
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