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Social Media Success In Five Steps
This first ran over at The Whale Hunters. It’s written with the business leader in mind, but the process outlined below works for anyone responsible for using the web.
Hell has frozen over!
Oh wait. The Cubs haven’t won the World Series yet. Never mind.
But it does seem that way, doesn’t it, with all the changes in technology? You run a business. You don’t have time to keep up. Does it feel like, somedays, you’re being left behind?
You’ve always been responsible for payroll and HR and legal issues and tax laws and retention customer service and innovation and managing debt. Now you also have to be responsible for Twitter and Facebook and YouTube and Yelp and Flickr and Quora and blogging and Foursquare.
Where does it begin? Better, where does it end?
I’m a big believer in using the web for business growth ONLY where your customers and prospects are participating. If they’re on Twitter, you should be on Twitter. If they heavy blog readers, you should have a blog. If they consume videos, you should be on YouTube. But for crying out loud! You don’t have to use every single tool and be good at all of them.
This is not the Field of Dreams. If you build it, they will not come. So, before you determine how and if you should include the social web in your communication, marketing, advertising, HR, customer service, and sales strategies, first figure out where it makes sense to do so.
Following are the five steps we recommend you use in determining if and where you should be participating online.
- Listen. The number one thing every business leader should have is Google alerts. If you don’t already have them set up to search the web for your name, the company name, the industry, any competitors, any key clients, and key employees or stakeholders, this is a must have. Stop reading now and set them up. Go on. I’ll wait. This one is non-negotiable. If you want to delegate it, do so, but do not delegate the alerts set up for your name and the company name. If someone says something negative online about you or the company, you don’t want to wait to hear it. You want those alerts as soon as Google sends them. As you begin to grow on the web, you’ll eventually want to pay a monitoring service, such as Spiral16, Radian6, or Sysomos.
- Assess. From there, you begin to assess where pe0ple are participating online and where it makes sense for you to do the same. The tools we recommend here are Flowtown, Gist, and Xobni. Each have their own particular advantages, but we like Flowtown for your existing customer relationship database (even if it’s not sophisticated and just sitting in Excel). You import the database and it shows you, by percentage, where your customers and prospects have social accounts. For instance, ours shows us that 21 percent of our customers use Twitter. Which means it makes total sense for us to have a presence on Twitter.
- Engage. Jay Baer explains this process the best. He shows that you begin by harvesting customer stories. Storytelling humanizes the company. Humanization encourages kinship. And kinship encourages sales. Because, after all, we buy from people we like and trust. And more sales equals more stories to be able to tell so you are able to repeat the process. Your customers want to know the people who work within your proverbial four walls so tell stories in order to engage them.
- Measure. There is a lot of discussion around the ROI with the social web. We recommend not trying to figure out how to monetize your Twitter followers or Facebook fans. Rather, determine what you want to accomplish by using the web. Is it increased awareness? Is it thought leadership? Is it a higher percentage of qualified leads? Is it helping your sales team convert those leads? It is more traffic to your website or blog? Whatever it is, the social web can help you with all of those things. What it can’t do is guarantee that if you have 20,000 Twitter followers, you’ll be making a gazillion dollars.
- Improve. This last step really is to take time, every 60 to 90 days, to review what’s working and what isn’t working so you can refine and improve. Gone are the days of planning every year. Now you must plan, refine, and improve every couple of months.
The last thing to consider: This is not a sprint. It is a marathon. It may be easy to look around and see all of the assuming overnight successes from using the web, but I’m here to tell you, those people have been refining their process online way before Twitter or Facebook were even ideas in their founder’s heads.
Choose one tool, implement it into your overall business strategy, get good at using it, refine its use, and move on to the next one. And be patient. It does take time. After all, you’re building relationships online. Online or off, relationships don’t happen overnight.
Too many people are looking for a quick fix and monetization when it comes to social media. They aren't interested in the marathon or the conversation and they don't want to be advised by anyone who would suggest such a strategy.
But those who run the marathon will be more successful. And they will still be there in a 6 mos or a year, when the sprinters come back to try social media again. And that's why social media isn't going away. At least for small biz.
Outstanding points on the use of a Google's free services. Many small business owners do not take full advantage of the free or inexpensive tools available on the web.
Just set up my google alerts and will be working through the steps!
I watched the video on blogging for bloggers on how to set up alerts, very helpful!
I loved this "social media success post"! Very realistic and highly applicable. This is all I need. Thank you so much for the great share.
Hey Gini, this is pretty much a road map to success for businesses looking to leverage social media for their business.
Two things stand out in my mind: Listen and Improve.
This presupposes you don't quit, but if you learn to listen, apply what you've learned and just keep pluging away - 3 mo., 6 mo., 1 year down the road, you'll have the foundation of a nice social footprint established for your business.
The social/mobile web will be a big part of ALL THINGS business in the near future that cannot be ignored; it's that important.
Cheers Gini :)
I did not know about this.
I will go and load up with it after this note.
Thanks.
Billy
All great advice Gini, but I especially love that you tell people to stop trying to put a price on their fans/followers. Yes, it's great that having an active social presence can help affect your bottom line, but that more comes from how the company is using social media and not the # of fans/followers they have.
Cheers,
Sheldon, community manager for Sysomos
I love it when the community managers stop by. It means their own monitoring works! Thanks Sheldon!!
Thank you! I've been sitting on the fence about Flowtown vs Gist vs etc., and this is just the nudge I needed to get on the ball and use one of them. The "guesswork" method is just making things harder...
Flowtown is less than a nickel per email address, but it's VERY worth it!
I am still laughing about the Cubs winning the series. Good old Chicago, 90 days of good weather- none of it consecutive- inferior pizza and steaks...
Anyhoo, I think that the idea of measurement is excellent but I am not convinced that everyone understands what is significant and what isn't. Or so my experience has shown.
There is a list going around right now that's called something like, "You know you live in Chicago when..." and thinking the Cubs are going to win the World Series is #1 on that list.
The measurement isn't a one size, fits all. That's for sure. But, just like you measure business goals, this isn't any different. These tools are just another way to communicate and they can be measured, as long as you know what you want to achieve.
Here's Social Media Success in Five Easy Steps with @ginidietrich - http://tinyurl.com/3b6pbd5
Great, yes and all this brings us back to social media ROI. You can measure it and although it's all conversations, on different channels, these matter.
Whose customers' aren't on the web nowadays?
When I speak, I'm always shocked at the number of people who think their customers aren't online. It's really naive (or ignorant).
There is a simple reason for this really--- Their web presence sucks, therefore they get no online leads, and therefore they think their customers aren't online. It's like ya wanna hit them on the head with a 2x4 and say, 'duh!!'. :-)
Hi Gini,
Say you find that you have customers on multiple platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc).
Do you post different content to each social network? Or is it better to keep everything common?
Kyle
Hi Kyle:
I suggest using a service like Hootsuite or similar site that allows you to cross promote, but always remember to make it easy to get people back to your site. Different content mixed in with common cross-messaging keeps people moving within your "media" campaign. Also, a monitoring site will enable you to see which ones are working best.
Hope that helps :)
Brenda M
sociallyengaged.com
I agree with Brenda. And you can also use Ping. But I'm not a fan of the same message for all of the platforms. I think it's important to engage people differently, depending on where you are.
Gini, This is great and I agree completely. I also started talking about the strategy of NOT partaking in every social media avenue several years ago. I believe the Pareto Principle is appropriate here, which states: “for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.” ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_20_rule
Know where your audience is, pick a strategy that will present you to your audience and do it. Of course, the "do it" part is sort of like Steve Martin's bit on "How to Make a Million Dollars and Not Pay Taxes" (step 1, make a million dollars. Step 2, don't pay taxes) in that it's much more complicated, but you can't go anywhere if you don't have a direction and a goal.
Mark, I love your Steve Martin reference: can I use it?
And I'll add...you can't go anywhere if you don't have a direction and a goal AND take steps in their direction. Cheers! Kaarina
Of course! It's really Steve Martin's, so go for it!
Gini,
I swear you always nail what I am thinking at the moment. Do you read my calendar? How about my daily thoughts?
I was just thinking yesterday, "I know more than the average small business in my town about social media, why not start consulting?" I was going to start out helping friends and see where it leads me.
Your article here is a perfect start for me. I'm with Kaarina, only go where your prospects are, duh! It's not a race and you shouldn't spread yourself too thin. You will run out of steam eventually.
I'm going to start off using this plan and break out from there.
Huge THX!
~Allie
Thanks, Allie, for the tip of the hat: we're indeed on the same page when it comes to going where your prospects meet, mingle, hang out and live:)
Keep us posted on your progress with the plan, and have fun "breaking out"! ~Kaarina
Bwahahaha! You know what they say about great minds...
And good for you on the consulting. That's how I started my business six years ago...and now I'm launching a second business. Girl power!
Love the reminder to re-tool frequently. It's amazing how fast things change and this is extremely prudent advice!
How did the original post do, did you learn anything interesting from those comments?
Joe
Um, there weren't any comments on the original post. :(
Succinct and yet thorough...really, it's like you shared Grandma's secret sauce recipe...AND you left in ALL of the ingredients. Thank you...while I have had Google alerts for awhile, I clicked on the link and realized that I had them set up for some really funky silly searches...I changed them thanks to your reminder. I am also going to take a peek at Flowtown. Thanks for a great post...
Um, I actually left out some of the ingredients. Gotta save some of it for Spin Sucks Pro! Bwahahaha! Not really - it's all in the execution and really knowing what you want to achieve. I wish it were rocket science (mostly so my grandpa could tell people his oldest granddaughter is a rocket scientist), but it's not.
Love this, especially the rocket scientist part!
And you mean you didn't really give us the secret sauce recipe? ;)
I gave it all! When I got married, Mr. D asked me to get his grandmother's pasta sauce recipe from his mom. She gave me this: Tomato sauce, water, sugar, garlic, wine, and bay leaves. I created this after nearly eight years of marriage. http://iwanttobeagourmetchef.blogspot.com/2010/01/big-mamas-sugo.html.
So all the ingredients you will get!
Thanks Gini. I am learning so much from so many people like you, Marcus Sheridan, Marci Smith, Brankica and many others. I am fascinated by all the knowledge and info. u guys have. Thanks so much for sharing and caring.
Al
I wish I could say it's because I'm wicked smart, but it's really because I read a ton and because people send me stuff. Without my network, I'd be able to tell you how to make a really good PB&J.
First of all, who are you calling asses....
I think it was you that said it so I'll give you credit; but you said it seems like everyone is using social media when in reality a lot of people aren't.
It's a great opportunity to get established but I know in my world very few businesses or people I know locally have even scratched the surface with it.
One of the things I do use is Google Alerts and it has been invaluable to pull information off the web that pertain to my customers, prospects or people I'm trying to get close to.
I have some pretty tech savvy IT people here at Lanier Upshaw and they are plugged into all the social media, but I can tell you corporately we have no plan and it's still just hit or miss. We are on twitter, but they are more invisible than I am....if that's even possible......:)
When it's not your core business and in a down economy when does it make sense to devote the resources to this? You might say now while it is still a very fertile ground and I wouldn't necessarily disagree with you, but I don't see it happening yet for us. And I'm guessing other businesses feel the same way.
We get more recognition through the individual users w/in the walls but certainly not a structured plan. It's not that the powers to be don't buy into it, but right now they are ok w/ everyone doing there own thing.
I know what I have had success w/ personally and could certainly see a 'corporate' model doing the same.
Now let me go tell the president what an 'ass' he is and maybe that will kick it off.
Good day; I'm off to play business golf w/ the people from the big appt last wk.
Hope you and the family had a happy Easter.
Um, the ass comment was LAST week. Jeez. You're right in that now is a good time to get involved, but not always the easiest proposition. As tools (like Flowtown) become more readily available to show where it makes sense, it'll be more important for businesses to pay attention. It's not yet a "must have."
Oh no, # 2 from above...Asses..........don't act like I didn't read the post........
Another post where you hit it out of the park Gini! My fave: "I’m a big believer in using the web for business growth ONLY where your customers and prospects are participating."
When I listen to people lament about how "busy" they are and how they "don't have time" to do it all, we work to break things down into small, manageable chunks, focusing on where they need to be. My saying: fish in a stocked pond...be where your customers need and want you to be! Then use the tools that are readily at your disposal. Thanks Gini...hope you had a great Easter weekend. Kaarina
It's crazy when clients come and say, "we need a Twitter account because our competition has one." But then you do your research and the competitor having one is doing nothing for them except wasting time. I wish more pros counseled clients the way you do.
Thanks, Gini, for your kind comment: you made my day!
And I concur...the doing-it-cuz-someone-else-is mindset, without thought, research or consideration is like throwing money and time to the wind.
Hi Gini
I am getting to think the more I learn the stupider I feel. I really like a blog that's actionable and makes specific recommendations. I was not aware of the wide variety of tools that are available to help bloggers.
Riley
You keep coming by here and I'll keep giving you tools to make it easier! :)
These are great points/advice Gini. While I am a big ROI pusher for Social I agree with create some goals. But I do feel the cost of inputs have to be judged vs the outputs. So you can spend $40k on people and technology for a year achieving some goals but maybe paying for half a direct sales person for the year would have a higher return. Always balance your resources short and long term to maximize returns for your business. At the same time short term low return could turn into long term high return which is why both have to be part of the analysis.
Lastly I would add a bullet point: Be prepared for change. This could be people moving to new platforms and having to follow and adapt. Or maybe if people go private and you pay Radian 6 for monitoring they might not give back the same value for sentiment and you can return to google alerts etc.
Gini be nimble, Gini be quick, Gini jumped over the candle stick! - Confucius discussing Social Media 754BC
And Joe Thornley added "business case" and "governance" to the beginning so no we're up to eight steps. Oy.
I'm glad it's a marathon and not a sprint. I'm better at marathons. Just stick with it and make it happen. Informed persistence will pay off.
I'm better at marathons, too. It doesn't matter if you have a bad mile, as long as you have the end in mind.
that easy? only if you are G! good easter?
Great Easter! You??
good- kids are happy = all is well
Hi Gini... really good one today. Just when a guy feels like he has a decent social media strategy, you drop a post like this and make him realize there's more he can do.
Darn you Gini Dietrich! :-)
--Tony Gnau
Gini... normally your blog allows me to log in and reply using Twitter account, but not today. Is that a recent change or just operator error on my part?
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