Successful Social Media Strategy
A new report on the media buying plans of advertisers and agencies indicates that having a “presence on social networks” is one of the top priorities of their media plans for next year. According to the 2010 Media Planning Intelligence Study, released by the Center for Media Research in conjunction with InsightExpress, found that:
* 57.7% of respondents “ideally” plan, and
* 56.3% “realistically” plan to include social media in their media plans next year.
The key phrase here is “plan” as without a well researched social media strategy, there will likely be numerous failed social media initiatives.
Here is some steps social media strategy that Sally Falkow developed and has presented at several social media bootcamps:
1. Listen to conversations – what good or bad things are they saying about you and your competitors?
2. Establish share of voice – there are already conversations going on – what share do you have?
3. Set goals/benchmarks – using the data collected work out your goals and benchmarks (i.e. what your starting point is).
4. Find bloggers and communities – locate the bloggers and communities that will be of interest to you going forward.
5. Identify influencers – who do your customers trust?
6. Develop a content strategy – what content will your target communities and influencers be interested in?
7. Pick tools – should you blog or be on Facebook, Twitter or other sites?
8. Create and deliver the content – create the blog posts, Twitter posts and so on.
9. Engage and facilitate conversations – don’t just publish content, engage with your audiences. A conversation is two way.
10. Measure results – set up and monitor metrics to manage the program.
