Do you need a social media expert?
I recently had a great conversation with our expert Social Media partner Peggy Dolane. Not enough people know basic smart approaches to how Social Media can be leveraged, so I asked Peggy to share some of her ideas that will hopefully be useful to you. Along with my hundreds of Tweets regarding social media, I hope you will find this information from Peggy useful. And don't forget to contact us to find out how we can leverage these princples along with social media tools integration into your Drupal site! Take it away Peggy!
Why starting with an expert is a savvy move + 10 marketing take aways for your social media success
When people ask me I tell them I’m sitting on the fence between two points of view. On one side I agree that many social media “gurus” don’t know what they are doing and, on the other, I believe every organization needs social media expertise in their skill set.
Integrated marketing = sound social media practice
Social media should be integrated with all that you do. An expert is helpful at the beginning of the process to identify where your community is using social media, your social media brand extension and voice, ROI measures, and tools that make it easier to use. But eventually your expert needs to step back from center stage and let you run the show.
Spread out the ownerships to build more expertise
From a practical standpoint, I recommend you designate people as “owners” of different social channels. Spreading out the expertise among content owners ensures that one person doesn’t leave a huge knowledge gap should they leave for a new position. Also, when many people own a piece of the social puzzle, there are more people serving as brand ambassadors in all of the various social media channels. Non-profits are well-served, for example, to have a social brand ambassador committee. This is led by the designated social media coordinator in the company. Gasp! Sounds like social media coordination and expertise is needed after all.
Turns out when I’m sitting on the fence, I’m facing the side supporting the social media expert
Can you keep up with all of the platforms out there? Digg, StumbleUpon, Delicious, RSS, Quora, Empire Avenue, Scoville, Groupon, FourSquare, UnSocial, Trover, Instagram, PinInterest and Tumbler.
I try all of these platforms because I live, breath and, yes, obsess about social media. It might be exhausting at times to stay on the bleeding edge of the information explosion, but I love it. I love bringing creative ideas to my client. I love learning new technology. I love discovering the next thing and meeting new people in the social media space.
Social media competency and the 10,000 hour rule
Why is this is good for your organization? In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell proposed the 10,000 Hour Rule — competency and success are honed in 10,000 hours of practice. I have far surpassed that hourly goal.
10 marketing take aways for your social media success
What have 16,000+ Tweets, 4 years of consecutive weekly blog posts, countless blog comments and Facebook likes, 15 years of marketing experience and hours of surfing (er, exploring) and experimenting taught me?
- The next “big” thing may not be your thing.
- Failure is part of social media success.
- What was an effective campaign last quarter, may not work in the next.
- Start small and build relationships instead of followers.
- Figure out who and where audience is before you start talking to them.
- Maximize the exposure and value you get for the content with strategic repackaging.
- Content may be king, but ideas are what get you noticed.
- Sure 20 somethings grew up with computers, but 80 year olds write blogs and are on Facebook too. Age does not make an expert. Experience does.
- Social media isn’t a one-person job; it’s a group effort.
- And yes, social media is just another facet of your marketing and customer service functions.