Last week I presented on a panel for CEBIT, the leading business event in the Asia Pacific region for Information and Communications Technology driving business strategy. I’d prepared some key points to share with those attending. (My summarised notes below). In the last month I’ve spoken to groups for AIM (Australian Institute of Management), FILEX (the national fitness industry conference), to an in-house team of 60 marketers for one of our big communications companies and, last week, at CEBIT. While I enjoy these presentations and am always excited to share from my experience what works when it comes to social media, I get frustrated by some of the questions I get. For example:
- How much time should I spend on social media?
- What can I expect my ROI to be?
- Does this Social Media stuff really work?
To me, these questions are like asking:
How much time should I spend on customer service or on communication with clients?
or
How much can I expect to make if I get into conversation with my clients and make them really happy?
What I’m hearing beneath the subtext of these questions is “I realise the world had changed but do I really have to change what I’m doing and get on board with the new world of business? If I just keep questioning social media’s validity maybe it’ll all ‘blow over’ and I won’t have to have been a part of this fad.” To me, Social Media is not a marketing trick or magic formula. And, it’s definitely not a fad. It’s a way of doing business that allows you the incomparable opportunity to be a part of your customers lives like you’ve never been before. Here are some notes here to explain my scribbles.
1. @suzidafnis – That’s me on Twitter. I attended SXSW in March and it was fun and interesting to hear people introduce themselves not as Polly Smith from TooHotShoes but as @toohotshoes … So, that’s me @suzidafnis.
2. My take on Social Media is that it’s not a marketing strategy or tool (though of course it can and should be used to market your business and you), it is a WAY of doing business. And, while the tools and platforms may change, the ability for customers to interact with us and to be more intimately connected to our businesses is an incredible opportunity that social media presents.
3. In the last few weeks I’ve given numerous presentations on Social Media to groups of small-business owners as well as large corporations. Regardless of the size of business there is power in having a social media strategy and a clear understanding of how your clients are using social media tools, and what the opportunities are for you and your business.
4. Social Media strategy, like business strategy, starts not with the tactics or tools, but with the overarching business goals. The tools change (and they change pretty quickly) so get your strategy ‘nailed’ and then choose how you will execute and what tools will support that execution.
5. The Australian Businesswomen’s Network is used as a case study of a small business using social media. Since 2006 we have used may social media tools (blogs, wikis, webinars, audio, video, bookmarking, Flickr, YouTube, social networks). Our goal: to reach our wide-spread community (including those in rural and country areas) and to be provide them with education and resources using these tools. Like many small businesses we have limited resources and social media has allowed us to reach farther/do more than traditional media.
6. Key things to Consider when designing your Social Media Strategy
i) Listen and keep listening Before you launch into a social media plan it’s worth spending time researching what your clients and prospects are saying about you, about your business, about your industry, your competitor. What problems are they encountering that you can solve? Listening will help you determine your strategy – but continued listening will keep you engaged and on top of what your audience wants and needs
ii) Talk It’s easy to talk at customers. We’ve been doing it for years with traditional marketing. But talking with intention to really solve their problems, to answering the questions that you discover in the listening stage – is what I refer to here as ‘talk’
iii) Be part of your community Again, traditionally we were quite separate from our customers – they lived in their world and we in our world. With social media I can be as close as I like to my customer and their daily lives – depending on how much I want to engage with them.
iv) Deposits/Withdrawals This concept comes from The Whuffie Factor by Tara Hunt. Do your actions add to or take away from the relationship bank? Are you giving or taking and what is the right balance for a successful social media relationship?
v) Customer experience Social Media has been said to be all about customer service. I agree it sure impacts customer service and that, by building better relationships with your customers your customer service is heightened. (If you haven’t yet pre-ordered your copy of Delivering Happiness by Zappo’s founder Tony Hsieh, I highly recommend you do. Zappos is THE model for customer service and they have used social media extremely well to build relationships.
