The Power of a Winning Social Media Strategy is what people really need right now. Everyone seems to be talking about all the tactics what’s new, keeping us a breasted of all the new tools and applications we could be using. How to get started using the tools..except no one wants to talk about your strategy. Without a strategy you can get lost in time and space, and not get really anything done.
Did you know that according to the 2010 Social Media Marketing Report, 67% of marketers plan to increase their use of social media channels including blogs, Twitter, and Facebook.?
As more companies integrate social media into their marketing and communications plans, emphasis needs to be on designing a social media strategy. Without a strategy, you’ll undoubtedly be sucked into a sink hole…of time just floating on by and you wonder what where the time has gone by.. It’s happened to me a few times..or at the end of the day I wonder where it go. Do you ever have these kind of days?
The master planner Fred Brooks he learned that failure is always in the design . “Great design does not come from great processes; it comes from great designers.” This is just like designing your strategy. when you design your strategy to use Social Media you then you can have a return of your investment. When something isn’t working you go back to your design of your strategy to see what’s working and what’s not. He also said, “You can learn more from failure than success. In failure you’re forced to find out what part did not work.”
If you don’t have a strategy then how do you know if your plan is working or not? You can’t tell with all the tactics and applications you are using. No it hard to do. Take a look at the design of your strategy, this is where your answers will be.
I thought what lesson Fred Brooks discovered and learned, was very insightful. If we bring it all back to our own challenge of not having a strategy or plan for our business then we will fail, or get stuck in a sink hole.
So, how do we design a strategy that will work for us?
When we first created our strategic marketing plan we listed our objectives and goals; where we wanted to be and how are we going to get there. From there we came up with some tactics. It’s no different in using social media in your marketing.
1. Start with one specific objective -
Before you can get a return on your time, you need to know what you want to get out of it. When you include a clear objective it will boost your overall marketing strategy.
2. Create a HUB -
You can read more in “The Power of a Winning Social Media Strategy.” of why a HUB is so important. Your message needs to speak to your audience.
3. Be Present -
What’s the soul of your brand. What’s the one thing that makes you different? And it’s not about features and benefits. Volvo = Safety. Apple = Innovation. Disney = Magic. What’s on the other side of your = sign?
4. Stay Focused –
On friending and building your relationship capital. Social media marketing creates stronger relationships with the people in your market. You can use it to build trust and loyalty with more people and in less time than with most other marketing tactics.
5. Hang out where your clients/customers are
Listen and observe what they are saying, You won’t be able to be everywhere at once, so you will need to take things slowly. Chris Brogan has 19 tactics you could do every day. http://www.chrisbrogan.com/19-presence-management-chores-you-could-do-every-day/
6. Work your plan
Stay focused, once your create your profiles keep working them. The time you spend on this aspect alone will add more value than you can imagine.
If you need help in developing a strategy – schedule an appointment with me Let’s get work together to help you transform your business.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I have written a book. That was the easy part! Marketing that book has been the difficult part. I have 2 jobs that take up much of my time and marketing isn’t getting enough attention at this time. I know this but am having a hard time remedying it.
My goal is to better organize my time so that I canput in the time and effort needed to market my book successfully!
http://www.LaurieWebbMinistries.com
I hear you Laurie…marketing is the most important part..
Mari-Lyn,
This is a fabulous and practical post. Without a plan of action, a strategy we are aiming at nothing and that is usually what we end up with, nothing.
Great timing. My post tomorrow is on creating your marketing funnel online. It is all about our plan and then testing and fine tuning our plan.
I am going to check out Chris Brogan’s 19 tactics to do everyday. This is one of the other benefits of reading and commenting on other bloggers posts, I learn so much.
I look forward to coming often to your site. Love the color!
Faith
Thanks Faith. We all seem to forget about the strategy – it about where we are going
Good points Mari-Lyn. Thanks for this–just what I needed to read right now. Some of these things I do naturally, like creating my own hub–which I have on my blog:
http://ArtistMarketingSalon.wordpress.com
From the information I have gathered there I can promote my own art, plus engage w/others by inviting them to use the resources I continue to gather there. Then I have lesser hubs, on Facebook and LinkedIN and other sites. That’s my understanding of what a hub is for me!
Yes, Marie – you have a main hub whether it's your Artist Marketing Salon for your marketing services for Artists and your site to showcase your own art. Each of these are hubs..Linkedin, Twitter etc are spokes/tactics.