According to a new report from Knowledge at Wharton, there is a shake out going on in the social media space. It will continue to happen, but what strikes me as important in all of this is that it is not just going to be about advances in technology. The players that survive and thrive are going to be the ones that differentiate and provide a user experience that people can’t get anywhere else. For instance, if MySpace wants to thrive (not merely survive like it has been), it needs to decide how it wants to be different from Facebook and then deliver that differentiated experience (like it currently does for the music scene).

-Jen Travis

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There’s a lot of talk around the need for a social media strategy, but why and how?  The reason is simple: if you’re not currently in control of your digital identity, the odds are pretty good that others are or soon will be. And if your organization dives into the social media world without a road map, then you could run the risk of appearing narcissistic, like you have ADHD, or even worse… inauthentic.  Creating a social media strategy is akin to creating a blueprint to help your organization hone in on the important stuff, such as figuring out what channels makes sense, how much time you should be spending, and who to engage. Social media should be a piece of your larger integrated branding strategy, because it’s essentially another touch point, or an opportunity to communicate and reinforce your brand promise.

-Bianca Abate

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I read a very interesting blog post this morning entitled, “How to Kill a Brand with Social Media.” While I can’t say that I agree with the entire blog—particularly the part that says Twitter is not social media—I do think the author made a very valuable point when talking about the lack of brand alignment in social media.

While most Twitter users are aware of the amazing job that Frank Eliason has done for Comcast on Twitter, acting as a one person rescue squad for their customer service issues, the rest of the brand has not aligned with this new way of doing business . . . Why? Because having one or two people creating a good impression on one platform is not enough. If there is no brand alignment behind the philosophy of listening and responding then all of the social media efforts in the world will not turn a brand around.
–From the IncSlinger blog, posted on May 14, 2009

Although we have been discussing the immense value that social media offers organizations, we don’t believe that a brand can rely on Twitter or Facebook alone to strengthen its relationship with consumers. The brand must be delivered consistently in all customer touch points, not just those in the digital world. A certain computer company that I’ll call “Swell” (for the sake of anonymity) has a great social media strategy—from their blog, to their Facebook page and now their Tweets! Yet, when I call “Swell” to troubleshoot my computer issues, I’m left to navigate through a labyrinth-like phone tree before I reach a “technician” that has no idea how to fix my computer, let alone communicate without reading off a script.

A brand cannot hide behind the façade that it creates online. If you’re not living the brand that you’re projecting online, your customers will eventually find out and they won’t stick around—they might even de-friend you.

-Hiley Spaet

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Social media will hijack your brand (if it hasn’t yet already). The masses will talk about your organization as kindly or ruthlessly as they wish and you can either partake in that conversation or slink off to the dark ages. Whatever you do, don’t underestimate the power of social media. By participating in the conversation, you have the power to engage your customers on their terms and on a deeper level. Plus, you get to learn from your audience in real-time and for free.

The number of social media avenues can overwhelm, so my recommendation is to start with the most popular, most trafficked site out there—Facebook.  Checking Facebook has now become routine habit akin to checking e-mail, with people spending hours at a time on it and checking it multiple times per day. The question is no longer why you should use Facebook, it’s how to best use Facebook.

Facebook empowers your brand by offering it another “home” to thrive and grow, aka your Facebrand page.  Today’s consumer wants to interact with your brand, so by fostering this page and proactively engaging them, you can begin to manage your brand’s greater online presence.  And if you don’t think this is important, ask yourself what’s the first thing people do when they want to find out about something—they Google it.  Your online presence is the megaphone to your brand. If done right, your brand online can better communicate what your brand offline promises.

So here are a few helpful hints to help you create and take full advantage of your brand’s Facebook page:

·          Do a little research to get to know your audiences. This will help you determine what content will be the most valuable to them.

·          As you start communicating, be authentic and use your brand as a filter.  Before posting or tagging anything, weigh its content and make sure it aligns with the brand you’ve created offline. 

·          Let people come to you. Facebook, as a social tool isn’t a place to advertise.  So don’t crowd your page with too much marketing fluff –it’s sure to turn them off.

·          Keep in mind that people “fan” your page because it reflects something about them. If they relate to your brand enough to become a fan, they are in essence announcing their loyalty and championing your brand to the rest of their network. That’s a big deal.

·          Be engaging. Back in the day, people wrote fan mail; today, people write on your wall. Pique their interests with polls, discussions, and notes. Delivering fresh content is key in bringing them back.  Updating your status message is one way to stay on people’s radar, but avoid clogging up their news feed with too many updates—once per day is more than enough.

·          Think outside the box. Betty Crocker’s page offers recipes, a “what kind of cupcake are you?” quiz, coupons for fans, quick baking tips via its status update and an online cooking class with cooking experts.  Your job is to find ways to deliver more of your unique value in a creative and compelling way. 

-Bianca Abate

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Thought leadership—where you use your intellectual approach to a problem or a challenge as the way to get people to pay attention to your company—is a great strategy for marketing—but it requires two things:

1) the discipline not to pitch your products/services while you’re thought leading, and
2) actual thought leadership .

If you meet those two requirements, then it’s time to bring it to the web. Online thought leadership is necessary today, because that’s where people get their information. These days, online means much more than a blog. Your brand promise now extends to how you show up in Twitter, email, Facebook, ebooks, Linked In, website, blog, podcasts, webinars, vlogs, wikis and wherever your target audiences are.

Overwhelming, right?

So start with an online strategy. Map out where your audience gets its information. Figure out where your brand will suffer if you don’t do it—and which social media or online distribution channels can best convey your message. And start with your own website—looking at how your thought leadership is represented there and how you can beef it up.

Once you have your strategy, create content once and repurpose it. Then, refresh it regularly. Think deeply and lead wisely.

-Lynn Parker

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