Tweet

Do You Have a Social Media Strategy?

Written by: Rahna Barthelmess

Article Overview: While Social Media is the newfangled thing for everyone to talk about, monitor and watch these days amongst marketers, I see a day in the future when social media will be yet another tool in a marketer's tool belt just as "cable" is now just another line item in a marketer's advertising budget. We will get to a day when marketers can't imagine developing a campaign without at least considering how their brand, or new product or service offering might be expressed digitally across a range of social media options.

Do You Have a Social Media Strategy?

"So what's with Twitter?" "What's all this social media stuff all about anyway?" "I know I should be thinking about it, but I don't know exactly what I should be doing about it." I do a lot of speaking engagements about digital branding and social media, and I get asked about social media A LOT. Just last week, I facilitated a social media exploratory for a group of executives at LIMRA. The workshop allowed participants to consider opportunities that they might want to pursue in truly engaging with their consumer base in meaningful ways. It's a lot more in-depth than the media hype that Facebook and Twitter are getting.

On Friday, April 17th, Oprah joined Twitter and sent her first tweet on national television. This was right about the same time that Ashton Kutcher got his millionth Twitter follower (beating out CNN), so she had Ashton on as a (remote) guest. The show represented a turning point for many social media proponents; they felt that social media had come of age and would now overtake "old-fashioned" (read "mainstream") media alternatives as THE way to communicate.

While it's true that there are benefits to Twitter, social media proponents need to understand that it is simply going to be added to the mix of media options available. I am not saying that Twitter will not be a game-changer. I believe that it will. But I don't believe that it will take the place of traditional media ... It will simply get folded into the mix.

I have been in marketing long enough to see the tremendous changes that have taken place over the past 20 years. At one point in my career, I had to make a case for senior management for why my marketing plan should include cable as a part of my media buy. Senior management argued, "Why on earth would we want to divert our TV dollars away from network TV?" I had built a whole presentation about how "It's cost-effective, it reaches my core target audience, it stretches our TV ad dollars." Anyone in marketing today would think that building such a presentation was absurd; of course you should have cable as a part of your TV mix. But back then, it was a struggle to convince others to this way of thinking! Today, I'm certain there are brand managers who contemplate why they shouldn't just eliminate their network TV buy altogether!

The same evolution will happen with social media. While it is the newfangled thing for everyone to talk about, monitor and watch these days amongst marketers, I see a day in the future when social media will be yet another tool in a marketer's tool belt just as "cable" is now just another line item in a marketer's advertising budget. We will get to a day when marketers can't imagine developing a campaign without at least considering how their brand, or new product or service offering might be expressed digitally across a range of social media options.

In the end, it all comes back to strategies for reaching your core target audience. If you are trying to reach the 18-34 year old, you better get a social media strategy in place, because as I noted in a recent blog post, according to a March 31/April 1 Harris Interactive research study, three-quarters of that audience have some sort of social media presence (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter). But if your target is the aging Baby Boomer, less than 25% have a social media presence and only 5% of all people are on Twitter.

If you would like help understanding the social media landscape and (more importantly) developing smart marketing strategies, give us a call. We'd be happy to facilitate some Web 2.0 exploratories for your marketing team to consider.

Related Articles
  “Should I or shouldn’t I”
  Are you paying people to update their Facebook profile?
  Resourcing B2B social media
  Legal Marketing: Social Media and Law Firms
  10 Steps to a Sustainable Social Media Strategy

Article Tags: ashton kutcher, cnn, core target audience, facebook, follower, limra, mainstream media, marketing plan, media alternatives, media hype, media options, millionth, national television, network tv, oprah, proponents, senior management, speaking engagements, tweet, twitter



Related Forum Posts
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - [quote="WebBizIdeas.com":gvtxsu7g]Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff[/quote:gvtxsu7g] Hi Jeff, Thanks for the suggestion. Why don't you start a new post (with a poll) to see if there's enough interest in your idea for a social media section?
Re: UPDATES: New Campaign! New Layout! New Ideas! - GT - thanks for the FYI - I'm not sure if we'll put a link back. Something to consider though! Trent - the new category is "Social Network and Media" which was put in to compliment the Online Businesses category that currently exists. Overall the new categories are: - Looking For, Networking and Events - Review My... - Social Network and Media - Brags and Rants These came as a result of Ringo doing research on other forums and thinking about what could be improved on ours to give a better experience for everyone. I hope you enjoy them! David, I'm looking forward to reading your Brag / Rant!
Re: Marketing 2.0 - What Are Your Thoughts - Hi Shri, Thanks for posting this. I also read it and I believe Social Media is here to stay, until the next best thing comes up. Social media proved to be useful for me many times and I think everyone should use it for their business.
Re: Social Media Marketing Ignorance - [quote="vbn411":7qciluxl]Social Media is space that you have to be in to succeed in our current climate. People are going to be discussing your brand / product whether you like it or not, so you might as well join the conversation and add value. [/quote:7qciluxl] I think that's probably one of the most realistic way to think about it. There's no real textbook way of understanding Social Media, it's the networks of people and their interactions that will exist with or without your input. As for Jennifer, You can always have 2 Facebook pages. Many people do. There is also LinkedIn, which is like a professional networking version of Facebook. The only way to know is to try it.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Severance and Separation Agreements

Multilevel Marketing: 4 Tips To MLM Success

10 Reasons Your SBA Loan May Be Declined

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.