While using social media for business purposes has been around for the better part of 5 years now, we’re reaching a place where businesses are starting to ask “what should I be doing with social media?” Its a fair question. After dabbling in Facebook or opening a Twitter account, the next question is often, “what now?” And much of this questioning is driving the conversation for ROI. But before we dig into ROI, its worth asking some of the tough questions about why we’re even talking about social media.

Why Social Media?

Now, you know that I am an advocate for measuring social media, I also think its also time that we ask ourselves what we are really trying to accomplish with social media. What makes social media so special and how can we really achieve business objectives with it? Every single time I meet a new client I ask “Why Social Media?” I purposely ask the question very broadly, but I also usually get the broad answer of “we want to increase sales.” Its an honest answer. But its also the easiest. Without meeting a single client, without a single email, I already know this answer. But its time to dig deeper, I’m suggesting you dig deeper and I’m asking my clients to also. What are some of the questions we should ask ourselves about the social media opportunities before we get started?

What is our impediment to increased sales?

Do we need to create awareness? Do we need to distinguish ourselves from our competition? Do we want to create community? Do we need to drive traffic to a digital or real-life location? Do we have a PR issue to overcome? These are different goals and social media can be used in each case, but its best if we focus on one, at least initially. Depending on the ability for the company to support the objective, we may initially start with one channel. Its best to really narrow this down, because by answering this question as specifically as possible, we also set ourselves on the right track for ROI measurement.

How are we communicating with our audience now?

A strong mailing list is a great start to social media, as is a website  that supports social sharing and perhaps even a blog. If you are a new business, then its all the more important that your website have sharing capabilities and be integrated with social media. And building that email list will probably be one of your social priorities. If you are an existing business, your customers and clients are probably already using social platforms to talk about their experiences with you. Look into those platforms and start building relationships with people who are talking about you-its back to listen first, and then engage.

Who is our online and social audience?

Do we know who influences our audience in social media? There are certain audience segments where people have carved out niches for themselves, particularly in travel, Moms and B2B spaces. Its good to know and follow these people. Social media can help you create a relationship with these people who influence your potential customers. We tread lightly here because we are creating a relationship, not a promotional partnership. We may be choose to partner with influencial people in social media, but let’s start with identifying who they and why our audience is so passionate about them. Listen first. Talk later.

How can we use social media to support existing mediums and marketing channels?

How can we integrate social media into our existing marketing programs: I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, social media is the farm not the silo. Don’t let your social media program live in the dark and don’t let your other marketing initiatives live without social media. Integrate! Let it work with the rest of your initiatives. If your using print, let’s find ways to integrate or even measure your print impact. Events and social media go together like two peas in a pod, there are lots of great opportunities for those two to work together. Look for ways to tie in a particular campaign across the board!

Are we ready for social media?

Are we open to a culture shift? Social media is more than a marketing channel, it really is a culture, a different way of looking at communication.

Its more transparent, more human than traditional marketing, its more individualized and very, very much about supporting customers so they can support you. Social media’s transparency requires that you consider how all your departments and staff can benefit from and participate in social media. Incorporating social media throughout the company is a great way to spread the work, and as we move forward, we truly are going to have to embrace the fact that each employee can and should take a role in marketing as so beautifully articulated by this McKinsey Quarterly article. Really ask yourself if there is any reason why your company’s employees shouldn’t be engaging current and potential customers. You hired them because they understand your business, shouldn’t they understand your customers too?

About a year ago I started advising my clients to “Stop Thinking Like a Marketer and Start Thinking Like a Human.” In other words, think about what makes YOU interested in companies and brands. Think about how you would like to be communicated with if you were YOUR customer.  Its hard to get out of our own heads sometimes, but start thinking about what would make you read more. That’s the essence of social media communication.

Are we committed or is this an experiment?

I strongly discourage dropping in and out of social media. Its sort of like not answering your phone…in both cases, it does nothing to create customer trust. If you just aren’t sure that you’re totally ready for social media, grab your handles and domain names on as many social media outlets as you can and leave a post or similar that directs people to the channels that you do monitor (your website for example). Also spend some time monitoring the social web for mentions of your company and products, this may help you understand the places you SHOULD go when you’re ready. BUT-and this is a BOB, big ‘ol but- remember that if you are going to start responding and engaging on social media that you should keep it up and also remember that the time to build community is NOT when you have a crisis, or a new product. You want community in place BEFORE you need them, which means you’ve already created the relationship.

Its really important that we get to the bottom of these hard questions before we leap into social media. You may find that answering these questions is a process of listening, learning and testing. Yes, these questions may unearth other questions, but if we’re to reap the full benefits of social media then we’ve got to plant the right seeds to get there.

QUESTION: What questions would you add to this list? Did you do this when your company started in social media? Please, let me know!

Even though I am a creative at heart, so it strikes a lot of people as strange that I’m caught so often discussing measurement and analytics. Here’s the thing: I’m also strategic and an activator. And because of my strategic side, I’ve been doing a lot of work over the last year on social media analytics and ROI models. Social media is unlike any other medium we’ve seen before, and so we’ve got to measure it differently.

But I DO believe we can borrow established methodology (why reinvent ALL the wheels?)  from Word of Mouth, PR and advertising models and most importantly, we can approach measuring social media in the same exact way we measure other marketing programs – by tying them to business goals and using Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s). Identifiying business objectives, how we establish KPI’s and what information we pull, that’s where the details are. There is no generally accepted “right or wrong” way to measure social media, but I do believe that measuring and tracking is important. No matter what type of measurement you establish, the key is to stick with it and let the metric tell the story.

I’m really proud of the ROI model I’ve developed for use with my clients. I feel it takes into account the different areas in which social media can impact (PR, Digital Marketing, Product Development, Customer Service) and even more importantly, it gives the client some flexibility to weight certain elements so they reflect the business goals of their company. In a presentation last week at Social Media Club of Hawaii (SMCHI) I presented the audience with my “Road Map” for developing KPI’s and an ROI model. I’ve added the slide show here for your review.

I also had the pleasure of joining Rob Bertolf and Hal Wilkerson on a panel to discuss social media measurement at the Social Media Summit of Hawaii (#SMSHI). If you watch the video, you’ll get to see me having a “Klout Conniption” which is my reaction to using Klout as a business tool.  I’ve also added my slides for measurement and ROI. This presentation gives you an overview (a roadmap) of how to develop you’re own Metrics and ROI.

If you are interested in discussing social media analytics further or would like to have an ROI analysis on your program, please feel free to contact me.

Aaaand..now for our show:

SMSHI 2011 What, Why and How of Social Media from Hal Wilkerson on Vimeo.

What’s needed for a successful social media campaign? That’s sort of like asking what it takes to create a success business. The truth is a successful social media endeavor requires hard work, time, commitment and a dash of good luck. But if your business is considering getting serious about social media with a social media professional, there are some things that you should know. The first of which is that no matter how fantastic your social media professional is, you’ll still be pivotal to the success of the campaign.  Here are 5 ways you can support the success of your social media campaign and your investment with a social media professional.

1) From the outset, determine if you have the man power for social media: social media is dynamic and fast paced. Communicating with your clients in this forum will require a willingness to be there when your clients are there too. If you decide to outsource your social media communication, you’ll still need manpower and here’s why: there will be times when a potential sale or compliment or complaint comes in through a social media outlet and having a process flow that is fast and internal is absolutely necessary. You’ll probably quickly get to the point where content creation becomes a topic. Who will create the content? Even if you outsource your content to a PR or video firm, you’ll still need to be involved with the topics and subjects.  The people in YOUR company understand the needs and views of your customers better than anyone else, why wouldn’t you want them to be involved.

Creative Commons Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/epsos/

2) Open up: The more you empower your social media campaign, the more successful it will be. Open up to new ideas. If each new idea or suggestion is met with a “we can’t do that”, then not only are you tying the hands of your social media professional, you’re limiting your own success.  Make sure your executive team is on board and enthusiastic. Find an internal champion who wants to see a social campaign succeed.  Be ready to share some of the nitty gritty of your company’s inner workings with a social media professional and allow them to help you through the process. Whenever I hear “we tried hiring a social media consultant, but it just didn’t work” I often ask “why?” Because while social media consultants are not all equally successful, some clients aren’t either. Some come to the table ready and willing to create magic, some come with a skepticism that limits the possibility of success from the outset.

3) Tracking Sales: If you are looking to track your sales directly from social media, be ready to invest in some additional tools. Google Analytics is a good start, but it won’t be enough. If you utilize non-digital forms of marketing, then let your social media pro in on the details. Let them understand your marketing cycle so they can support your over all goal, not just the goal of social media.  There are tracking tools which will help you identify multiple digital touch points such as email and web and social. But if you really want to dig deep, you’ll want to integrate your CRM with social media. If you don’t have a CRM, then tracking that insight will be considerably harder and more time consuming, you’ll have to rely on causation rather than direct attribution. No social media professional can make you invest in these tools, but if you wish to skip them, then it isn’t the fault of your social media professional.

4) Be ready to integrate: You’ll quickly find that elements of social media include touch points including marketing, sales, PR, customer relations and more. Social media shouldn’t be treated as a silo, I always say, social media is the farm, not the silo. I say that because its the fertile ground where the sun, the rain, the tender care all take place to create magnificent fruit. But without all the elements together, the fruit isn’t as magnificent.  Make sure you’re willing and able to have those touch points involved in the discussion. An audit will quickly reveal the areas in which you can have an impact, but at the very least, its likely to include some changes to your website, integration with your email list,  some communication with your executive team and support from everyone involved.

5) “What Have You Done for Me Lately”: Social media isn’t really a sales tool, its a marketing tool. Social media helps you create a stronger emotional connection with your customers, but few customers place orders through social media (subject to change?) The effects of social media are likely to be exponential, but perhaps not immediate and potentially difficult to track (depending on your choices of tracking). Give your customers some time to start communicating with you on social media..and give them a reason to communicate with you. You’ll find that things come into play together, over time.

6) Be Flexible, Be Human: What worked for your competitor may or may not work for you. You might find that something that has worked in the past isn’t working now. Be prepared to try something new, in fact, always be thinking of what’s next. Social media is dynamic and so are social media users. They expect you to be interesting, inventive and informative. If you aren’t one of the three “I’s” on social media, then its time to think about how you can be. And don’t forget, at its heart, social media is about communication. Be human, let your customers be human. They’ll think more highly of you and that will pay dividends for years to come!

Let’s say you have a new product. It’s brilliance. Sheer brilliance. You begin to build and allow your imagination to take you to that World-Wide Cruise you’ve always dreamed of taking. What you have here will surely be the next big thing..people will talk about it more than they talk about the Ipad.

Before you start planning your vacation, start thinking about your marketing plan; specifically, your social media marketing plan. I know. Your idea rocks, you won’t need a plan. Its going viral, baby. And while it probably should, the cold hard truth is that even brilliant ideas sometimes need a bump that creates the energy that gets people talking.

Mashable just released a new list of the 5 successful social media campaigns. Here’s what they all have in common: a “thing”. But there is something else they all have in common, most of the campaigns supported their use of social media with other types of marketing. Which highlights the fact that best laid marketing plans are integrated. In some cases it was advertising, in some cases it was promotional partnerships.

While your budget may not enable you to make the next Mashable list, you can still learn some lessons from the leaders. One way to create a bump is to identify your “thing”. What makes you special? Why should people care?  Your “thing” is not a “Feature” its not a “Benefit” your “thing” creates an emotional reaction out of people that causes people to take action (share, buy, talk)?.  The “thing” is not your product.  The thing is about your “thing” is that it might not be about your product at all. Your “thing” might make your customers a star or let their true nature stand out. Your “thing” might infuriate, inspire, scare or amaze them. Your “thing” might make people laugh or cry. Whatever your “thing” is its designed to get people talking, which means its unique…which means you might have to take a risk.

In each of these 5 campaigns they all have something in common:

1. The “thing” touches on a human emotion and increases the likelihood for action (talking, sharing, etc.)
2. Content is King: each of these campaigns had ongoing content over a period of time, designed to keep the conversation going. Content varies from Tweets to videos to other media like songs.
3. Very often, the campaign is supported with advertising or events.
4. Empowerment: each of the campaigns maintained a conversational tone, which meant each and every tweet did not go through legal, communications and HR approval.

• Edge - So Irritating Campaign: What do random acts of kindness have to do with shaving gel? In the case of Edge shaving gel the “thing” is to be less irritating by providing random acts of kindness to people who use the hashtag #soirritating. This campaign’s social element is exclusively done through Twitter, but they also partnered with somecards, known for their snarky and sardonic e-cards to promote the idea. Getting people to engage and discuss shaving cream is a tough task, but Edge felt is was a success, they increased their followers and engagement.
• ToyStory3 – By fleshing out the persona’s of the various characters in ToyStory 3, Disney broadened its reach to many different types of people (adults). Their “thing” touched on childhood experiences of all people and created a universal appeal. One of the standout elements of this campaign is the collaborative nature of the campaign. Disney paired up with different partners to extend the reach and give the campaign extra legs. Like Disney, you might have a “thing” that someone else can benefit from, maybe its your own icon’s persona. Look for creative ways to engage other businesses by asking them “how could you benefit” and giving your partner an opportunity to have some skin in the game, increases your potential visibility.

• The Old Spice Guy: Over 50 million YouTube views say this “thing” was successful. And if you have any doubt, ask yourself “before the Old Spice Guy – when did I last talk about Old Spice?” But the thing that really got people talking ABOUT the Old Spice guy wasn’t just the videos and commercials, it was the fact that the thing Old Spice Guy answered people’s questions and had fun with the audience in the social sphere. Old Spice committed fully to the project and today, a year later, they still appear to be reaping the rewards. Even the parody’s of the “Old Spice Guy”, which admittedly had different objectives,  considered their response campaigns a success. The Old Spice campaign shows what you can do when you actually interact with your fans, followers and viewers and fully commit to a project.

• Internships.com: WOW. Talk about risk taking. Partnering with Charlie Sheen right on the heels of his very public melt down might take more courage than most businesses have. But, in terms of sheen sheer numbers, it worked. The “thing” here is the firestorm surrounding Charlie Sheen on social media. What’s interesting is that this is the one exclusively social media campaign. No other outside marketing support was created. Kudos for acting fast, not as many kudos for ignoring the obvious question: now what?
• Reunited Again: Barbie and Ken: Again, some interesting risk taking here: Barbie and Ken’s actual users are children unlikely to have social media accounts, but those who buy Barbie and Ken dolls just might. Mattel didn’t ask its audience to contribute, it just created the personas behind Barbie and Ken in a social media way. The “thing” here, much like ToyStory3 is nostalgia. Integrating with Match.com was brilliant – and probably a nice coup for Match.com But perhaps the most brilliant element of this campaign is that its ongoing, leaving Mattel open for future partnerships, including (love this) Foursquare integration.

• Ford & Doug: a “match” made in heaven: Perhaps the biggest reason this is even mentioned is because of its risk-taking nature. Ford made a sock named “Doug” its “thing”. Doug’s tweets don’t appear to have to go through the Ford marketing/PR approval process. Doug seems to say what he wants when he wants.  Doug has roughly 1500 followers, but Ford calls it a success. I think this is a great example of taking the long road of social media success and not making fans and followers the #1 metric.

Ok. Let’s say you’ve taken a deep breath, a little risk and identified your “thing”.

Giving birth to your “thing” isn’t enough, you’ve got to give it air. Much like a fire can’t spread without some oxygen, your “thing” won’t spread unless you give it the social oxygen it needs.

Once you’ve identified the “thing” that’s going to get people to take action, begin to consider how you can use this thing in advertising, PR and events. Imagine how your thing interactive?  Once you’ve answered these questions – begin implementing…and be prepared. To wait. Very few over night successes are truly overnight. Stay committed and be prepared to make slight changes to your plan based on its results.  Creating a social media “thing” is a lot like raising a child – you’ve got to give it a chance to live and grow and allow it to have a life of its own. Be patient and loving with your “thing”, nurture it. Give it time to return the love back to you!

Do you see any other similarities in these 5 social media marketing campaigns? Do you think any of them can apply to your business?

Mom’s are full of advice. Along the way, we begin to realize that were actually right about a lot of it.  And alot of  Mom’s advice is about realtionships too. My wedding anniversary was a couple of weeks ago, so I couldn’t help reflecting on some of the advice I’ve gotten from my Mom over the years. And as I got started, I realized..”Hey! There are some social media lessons here too!”

As I started to think about my own Mom, I realized that long before I understood myself, she actually DID know what was best for me. For example, Mom’s help us define ourselves. At best, they are the cheerleaders for the real “us” fighting to get out. Finding what works for you, means being open to the real “you”. The idea that there is no other “you” and so no one can really give you a recipe for 100% success. What they CAN do is give you ideas, guidelines, encouragement. In Business its the same, and it also includes case studies and evidence of success…but at the end of the day, applying all of that wisdom may or may not work for you.

Social media is like that. Just like that. Let’s face it: if your gonna be married to your business, its high-time you gave some thought to how to make it really successful. So, today, in honor of my Mommy dearest,  I give you a mother-load of advice, and the social media lessons I learned from my Mom.

Find someone who makes you a better you. You. Only better.

Social media has the potential to celebrate your community, your business, your brand, but like a hen-pecking wife or a controlling husband, it can also take those things you love most about yourself and make you believe they aren’t worth celebrating. Finding the right social media mix will always start in much the same way as your search for the perfect “other”. First you have to decide who you want to be…then you can find the match that makes it you 2.0. So before digging into the social media dating pool, do yourself and your business a little favor and dig deep to find the inner brand. What makes your company special? What stories do you have to tell? Your social media match will take all the things that are great about your business and make them better. Take an inventory of all things right and exciting and think about how you might share those pieces …and why your customers might care or want to get involved with those stories.

Decide if marriage is right for you.

Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. But especially if you decide that it IS for you…its time for a little soul searching. What do I need to be a good husband/wife? What will my future spouse need from me so they can be the best they can be? What do I want my life to look like? Will it include kids?  You may or may not ever know all the answers to these questions..in fact, half the fun of the journey are the pieces that are revealed along the way. The important things about this particular soul searching is that 1) you seek to find answers 2) you understand that you don’t even know the known unknowns. Social media often reveals its potential in funny ways, but before that happens, you should be asking if you have the desire and resources to create a community and maintain a community. Are you ready to learn the answers to the questions you didn’t even know to ask?  What will you do if you get into it and decide it isn’t for you? Is building a community and abandoning it better or worse than never having built it at all? Ask yourself if social media is even the right fit for your objectives, audience and resources.

Be Kind.

This actually didn’t come from my Mom..it came from our wedding. The officiant at our wedding urged us to always be kind to one another. How simple. How quaint. But seriously, have you ever tried to be kind to someone you live with in every interaction..its a huge challenge. And..yes, so it is with social media. If you’re being kind to your community, you’re thinking about what makes it work for them. What can you do to make the experience more enjoyable…and even when they tell you that you are as rotten as a 10 year-old egg, you accept the criticism with grace, humility and apology with a commitment to rectifying the situation. Thanking people falls into this category too. Go ahead. Be Kind.

Accept the imperfections. Embrace them.

You won’t find the perfect spouse. You won’t be one either (unless of course you’re me…in which case you are doing a mighty fine job). But regardless of the imperfections, there is joy. Imperfections are human. If you want to really embrace social media and your brand, embrace your imperfections. Don’t expect that every moment is picture perfect. Its OK. People like the idea that behind a brand, are a real, unscripted person(s). When you mess up – say so. But don’t be so hard on yourself and expect that you’ll never have a typo or a unexpected reaction. In fact, much like a spousal argument can lead to greater understanding and strength, from imperfections, come some very interesting opportunities.

Listen.

Yep. There it is again. I’ve said it before I’ll say it again. My Dad always told me “you won’t learn a thing from yammering on.” Of course, he would then yammer on about all the things I had to learn (apples DON’T fall far from the tree do they?). Alas, he was right.  Its easy to listen, but hard to hear. Really hearing what someone is saying means actively participating in the listening process (instead of thinking about what you are going to say next) But the truth is, about 80% of the benefit you’ll receive from social media is from listening. So put your ear to the ground and prepare to be amazed to learn a lot about your community – current and potential customers.

Ask questions.  Make your significant other/spouse feel like you care enough to ask.

Sometimes, when we get into that comfort zone of a relationship, we assume we know how the other person feels so we don’t ask. Ahh yes. The old “ASS-out of-U and Me” syndrome. Well, we do it in business too, don’t we? We often assume expect that we already know our customer..after all..who knows better than us who are customers are? Haven’t we been having conversations with our customers all along? Didn’t we START the business knowing our customers? Perhaps.  But, social media allows you to take a deeper look and get to know your customers better. Sometimes the outlier view is the real headscratcher, but its a learning opportunity none the less. Go ahead – make them feel like you care. Ask them what they liked about the experience, product or idea? Your customers may just be the source of your next big idea. Its OK – you can give them credit. Hey, there’s a campaign in there somewhere!

PS: Yes, that really is a picture of my Mom. I think she’s cute as hell..even though she doesn’t read this blog. =)

Drawing to a close, I’d like to refer to my earlier post this week about the #1 rule in social media. Your Mom’s advice may vary from mine..and it might be better for you! The point is, think about the experience of engagement with your customers. Really think about it…and chances are…you’ll find your OWN mother’s advice in there somewhere. And tell me…what lesson did your Mom teach you that you apply to your social media practice today?!

Last week, I moderated a panel at the Hawaii Social Media Summit (#SMSHI) of Hawaii’s social media business users about their outsourcing – what they do and don’t outsource and what their best practices are.  It was an interesting conversation and their experiences are largely reflective of a Facebook Poll I recently initiated. The conversation is an interesting one with varying and strong opinions! While the poll I took is certainly no where near scientific, I think it raises some interesting points. As you might imagine – I have some opinions on these as they relate to small and medium businesses, so I thought I would share with you the results, a sampling of the conversation and my thoughts on each of the items.

There were a total of 52 votes, I did not limit the number of votes that each person could make. To get the party started, I voted for Strategy and Analytics. Here’s how the rest of the votes broke down and my thoughts about them.

22/52 Technical Integration: I totally agree with most of the respondents, having your social media program integrated with the rest of your digital presence is vitally important and its both smart and easy to outsource since there is usually no need for a permanent employee for this purpose. A business might choose to put a consultant on retainer, but unless you are really aggressively changing your digital presence regularly, then a consultant is the ideal choice.

13/52 Analytics: Since I already said I voted for this, you won’t be surprised to hear that I am baffled by the fact that this only received 13 votes.  Here’s why I am baffled,  over and over again, I get questions on what metrics should be used. Our panelists last week acknowledged that they too are struggling to identify which metrics work for them. The answer to what you should measure depends on what your goals are, but many social media consultants can help you identify which metrics are best for you and how to measure them. Unless you are a large business who can afford a Radian6 or similar tool, the gathering of this data can be cross channel and time consuming. I find most small business skip this crucial step and then become frustrated when they don’t know more about the success (or failure) of their social media program. A critical examination of metrics by a social media consultant can give you valuavle take-aways on changes you might make in your social media program, what’s working and what isn’t. If nothing else, you can outsource the initial set-up and development of your analytical program and take it from there. Whatever you do though, do skip the measurement of social media. But if you do skip it, please don’t say that social media doesn’t work for you…because my next question will be how do you know? I’d encourage small and medium businesses to at least consider creating a metrics dashboard with a consultant. Your internal social media person will thank you – even if they are running the reports on an ongoing basis. You don’t need to hire someone full time for this and since most companies don’t have a full-time social media person, this is an ideal outsourcing component.

11/52 Strategy: Again, one of my votes. Again, I am as confused as an epileptic dog in a maze. Maybe its because strategy isn’t fully appreciated. Maybe its because strategy seems too “fuzzy” but for me and my clients, strategy is the starting point. Without a well defined strategy, how do you know what you will implement and how you will measure? Social media is deceptively sophisticated and incredibly dynamic. Yes, you may change your strategy, but at least have one.The reason this is a great element to outsource is a social media consultant can give you examples of other strategies and work with you to develop one that suits your needs. Everyone’s strategy will be different, but its great to have some ideas to start with. You will then have a road map and metrics from which to measure the success of your social media program.

3/52 Implementation: The irony of this category is that its the single most popular thing that small businesses want to outsource – yet, its not the ideal element to outsource. Its also the most time consuming, which is why so many companies want to outsource. Listening. Engaging. Conversing. They all take time. I’ve seen estimates from 5 hour/week or more.  Having someone else speak for your brand (even if they are smart, savvy and exhibit good judgment) is challenging unless you (business) are really able to spend the time to immerse the outsourced social media person in your brand. Further, you should be willing to develop a process and a flow to assist the consultant in making comments and decisions on the spot, as that is what social media requires. Immersing a consultant in the right culture and voice of your brand is not easy. Can it be done? Yes. But my own personal experience in this area makes me give the following recommendation: if you must outsource this section, consider it a 3-6 month pilot until your internal users are up to speed on best practices and tools. What I normally do is have myself and a staffer work the social media dashboard together so we can discuss the opportunities and choices. Then I closely monitor and make recommendations. I personally love this graphic that breaks it down nicely:

1/52 SEO: I’m baffled by how few people saw SEO as a viable outsourcing choice. While I don’t personally do SEO, I work with several SEO pros in conjunction with social media programs and I have to say, I think this is one of the few areas where there isn’t much grey area. While SEO maintainance may be ongoing, an SEO expert’s job is to stay up to date on the every changing search antilogarithms, put your SEO consultant on a monthly retainer and call it a day. Few companies should have internal SEO and there are some incredibly talented SEO consultants available.

1/52 Content Development: I believe this one area that doesn’t get its social media respect. Developing content is an ongoing process and whether you choose to develop content or curate it, you’ll need to have a plan that fits in with your strategy.  Many small businesses need suggestions on what types of content (words, pictures, video etc.) and also the best way to utilize them to create discussion. Further, development of voice and tone is often something that many small and medium businesses haven’t done yet, so a social media consultant can help you develop your voice. What content to create, how to use it and best practices with content are all elements a consultant can help you with. When it comes to implementing it, I again suggest an internal advocate (or two).

1/52: Building Quality Followers: While only one person voted for this, I tend to agree, that this element can be outsourced, initially. I’ll even lump this in with working with influencers, both the identification and the outreach of them. But, ongoing development of followers will be contingent on your implementation among other factors, and unless your consultant has control over the implementation of these factors, its not a great choice.

So – what do you think? What do you think is most successfully outsourced? Leave us your thoughts..and if you haven’t already, take the Facebook Poll

PS:

Here are some sources about outsourcing I shared on my #SMSHI Twitter Stream last week:

Should #smallbiz consider outsourcing social media @AlohaSMM weighs in with some great stats: http://ow.ly/4zOzN

Another viewpoint: things you CAN outsource in social media http://ow.ly/4yWcs via @baekdal #SMSHI

Should you outsource your social media efforts? (via @mashable) #smshi http://ow.ly/4yV4Q

5 reasons not to outsource your social media http://ow.ly/4yVYf via @iMediaTweet #SMSHI

Corporate social media outsourcing has doubled according to @smexaminer ‘s mkting report – from 14% in 2010 to 20% in 2011 #SMSHI

Great advice from @TobyDiva regarding for biz & agencies re: outsourcing social media #smshi #smallbiz http://ow.ly/4yVbR

Design/Development, Content Creation & Analytics top 3 most commonly outsourced #sm elements via @smexaminer ‘s mkting report #SMSHI

Photo credit: BaronBrian

97 Million  people use Twitter.
640 Million on Facebook.
48.2 Million users on YouTube.

Ever ask yourself why they are there? Hold on. Before you answer – let me give you a hint: its a trick question.  Stop thinking like a marketer/business owner/blogger- extraordinare for a moment, and pause. Here’s the answer. The reason millions of people use these platforms is because they want to engage with PEOPLE.

Now hear this:  No one ever joined Facebook or Twitter so they could follow a brand or a company.  Now, adults (who make up the largest segment of social media users) accept brand presence as part of the social media experience, but here’s some bad news: According to a recent study by Forrester Research, just 6 percent of 12-17-year-olds who use the Web desire to be friends with a brand on Facebook. Yet, according to HubSpot, brands who connect via the social sphere see a direct impact on sales.

So – better get ahead of it and start developing your social media currency now. Now, you KNOW I am not suggesting that brands stay out of the social sphere, that is just not my style or honestly, my business. What I AM suggesting is that you brands and companies give serious consideration to what they have to OFFER the community and what motivates their community to be part of social media at all. Its all about “What’s in it for them”. Your currency is your social media VALUE. What do you have to offer? What you give your community, otherwise, seriously, why should they care?  So, here are a couple of steps to identifying your social media currency.

Where are your customers and why are they there? Its easy to say “I want a Facebook page” or “I’m opening a company Twitter account”, but is that really where you should start? Shouldn’t you begin by asking where your clients are? Maybe your clients are creative and visual so they like YouTube or Flickr better. When people start with the tools I just want to take a book out of my Kindergarten lessons, shove my fingers in my ear and start saying “Nah Nah Nah…I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you!” because unless you start by asking what social media tools your customers use and WHY they are there, that’s same response you’ll get from the community. Once you know where your customers are and WHY they are there, then you can start developing your tools.

What do you have to offer? Now, we get to the nitty gritty. What makes your company interesting to them? This is all about content.  Lots of businesses think that the only thing interesting to their “fans” are discounts or promotions. Wrong. That’s like saying the first time you meet someone you should buy them a bottle of wine. Friendships, real friendships don’t start at the wallet and neither do truly engaged fan-business relationships. People like to get to know a company, learn what’s important to the company, its helps the person get to know the company and feel more closely aligned with the company. Different established communities like different things, which is why activity on one social media portal might be different than activity on the other, by both people and companies. If you aren’t sure where to start, there is a great tool on Forrester Research designed by the Groundswell (affliate link)  folks that helps define your audience and how they typically interact. Granted, its a general tool, if for example, your audience are a specific subset, say Mom’s, you might know some other things about your audience and how they like to interact, but this is still a great place to start.While this information is not new, its still relevant, so go ahead and check it out.

How will customers interact with you? Now, if you used the Social Technographics tool from Groundswell, you’ve likely discovered that different people typically interact differently. It might frustrate you to know that LOTS of people are lurkers. People who like results don’t like digital lurkers, because they can’t be tracked. Here’s the rub – lots of people are lurkers, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have value to you. Think about it – when you go to a Facebook page or a blog, do you always comment? Probably not. I know I have a LOT of lurkers on my site. I also know THEY ARE WATCHING. Lurkers turn the tables a bit on marketers. They key is to create opportunities for those non lurkers to participate and maybe, just maybe, you’ll drag some of your lurkers out from the shadows. Its also important to note that if you don’t attempt to engage your audience, why would they ever interact with you? If all you do is push content, then that’s a pretty one-sided relationship don’t you think? Well, even if YOU don’t think so – your customers do.

By the way – I love the $2 bill as an example of social media currency. Think about it. People who have $2 bills know they are special. $2 bills are remarkable and interesting and people like to show them to their friends.  Shouldn’t YOUR currency strive to be all those things?

That’s it. That’s all you have to do to begin your social currency valuation.

After you check out the Social Technographics tool – I’d love to hear what you learned and what surprised you.

(Picture Credit : Maria Reyes-McDavis)

So you want to start a blog? Or someone said you should so your considering it. Blogs for business are an outstanding tool for business, they can build community, be the backbone of your social media program, and drive traffic to your website, just for starters. But where do you start? Well, its an often overlooked question. Its so easy to think that because their are millions of blogs (and if you check out Technorati you’ll see that I am write right.) While we’re on the topic of Technorati, before you start following any of my 5 handy suggestions, you should check out Technorati and see what others are writing on the topics you plan to cover. You’ll probably get both inspiration and that sick feeling in your stomach that there is a lot of junk out there. Welcome to blogging, the place where you try to suck less.

But the business of blogging is just that, a business. You want to give careful consideration to your goals and efforts. Here are 5 tips for businesses thinking of blogging.

1. Define your goal.

There I said it. I know, so many of you hate me for always hounding on this, but if you don’t set your goal, how will you know if its working?  Blogging is at once a task master and a generous soul, so tap into the generous part before you get to know the task master. Determine what the benefits to blogging will be. Are you trying to create community? Are you hoping to help along your SEO efforts? Define it. Then live it. Then measure it.You can use Google Analytics, PostRank or even (GASP!) your own set of metrics. By the way, “sucking less” is not a measurable metric, get your own.   As the famous Greek philosopher, Nike once said, “Just Do It”.

2. Why should your customers care?

Don’t make me gag by posting press release after press release on your blog. NOW HEAR THIS: No one wants to read your overly edited, specifically written to attract media attention, 1 page maximum dribble. Press releases are for journalists, blogs are for people.  What people expect from a blog is the ability to get to know the insides of a company, to hear a single voice, to get information or insight that they wouldn’t normally get. Give them what they want: Education. Entertainment. Exclusive Insight. Speaking of sucking less, don’t be afraid to take some risks and suck a little. Step out on a limb and you’ll be surprised what you learn. Seriously, the blogosphere is different, you are allowed and even encouraged to experiment and be creative. Just like when you were in Kindergarten.  And, remember, ASK YOUR CUSTOMERS for their insight and participation, people like feeling part of the process. It may take time, but you must continue to invite others to be part of your blog.

3. Commit.

If your going to blog, make a commitment to it, in the best of circumstances, you’ll have an audience and they will miss your blog posts when you skip them. Be disciplined: develop an editorial calendar, leave room for newsy items that your company should be commenting on. Blog regularly 1-3X minimum per week. This is the blogger as task-master part. If you can’t think of what to blog about, get inspiration from the news, industry occurrences, message boards and other communities where your customers are hanging out. Let your talented employees be your bloggers – ask for volunteers to start. Think beyond the marketing team. If your going to be blogging 1-3X or more a week, you have room for a monthly CEO post, a weekly janitor’s post and an interns ramblings. Have fun with it and so will your customers.

4. Speaking of Writers..What IS your company’s voice?

Different writers can have different voices, that’s a fact, but there should be a thread of similarity in them all. Your voice is your tone, your goal, your corporate idiosyncrasies and more all wrapped into one. Spend some time developing your voice and allow your voice to develop.  All your writers so know what their goals are before they start and they should all be writing consistently with that goal. Maybe the janitor regularly posts his great ideas  – and asks readers to vote on them. Maybe the intern gives the inside scoop on how new products make it to the customer.

5. Make each post remarkable and SEO friendly.

Give some thought to each post, don’t just whip one up the night before. Write it. Edit it. Be ruthless. The more time you give yourself to write and edit the better the post will be. Remarkable content isn’t easy to produce and don’t expect every brilliant blog post to go viral, but just because it doesn’t go viral doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be brilliant  And remember, you can (and SHOULD use key words in your blog post) but don’t be a tool and write a blog post for Google, write it for your audience, use real language. Be Akamai about your key words. If your following #3, then you’re probably using your key words regularly enough anyway. I’ve heard stories of companies that stopped thinking of themselves as a “(insert industry here) company” and begun to think of themselves as a content generation company.

Bonus Tip: Use your words and your pictures.

Don’t shy away from pictures or video or even vlogging. Audiences have no shortage of media to consume, pictures and video help tell the story. Plus, let’s face it, it adds character…you know, the character that’s part of your voice (mentioned in #4). And be smart about using pictures, don’t forget to name them appropriately..and with key words. Photos especially are great SEO tools…so allow your photos to be your Google’s Marilyn Monroe, while your writing is the classy Jackie O. Got it? Good.

SO Mr/Ms/Mrs Reader , quit lurking and tell me: What would you add to my list of 5? What have you learned from blogging?

You’ve probably heard the phrase “The best way to accomplish a large goal is to break down into small manageable tasks.” The idea holds water, or soda or a Belvedere vodka if your like me.  Essentially its an idea  “catch phrase” born from the Kaizen approach. Maybe you are familiar with the Kaizen method to change. If you aren’t – hold on to your shorts boys and girls you about to get a quick 101. THEN, I’m going to tell you why its relevant to social media.

Both US’s and Japan’s employed this methodology during their respectively most challenging times. The Kaizen method evolved from management training created by the US government to ramp up American manufacturing for WW2 involvement. There was no time for large scale innovation, manufacturing plants at that time had to work with the tools and time frame they were given (sound familiar?) After the war, General MacArthur introduced this concept to the Japanese to help rebuild their country. The Japanese coined the term “Kaizen” which roughly means “improvement” or “change for the better.” The tenants of Kaizen’s small steps are asking small questions, visualizing small success and taking small actions. Essentially, the Kaizen method is the process of small steps equaling big change, by taking small steps, the process essentially ignores the brain mechanism which triggers fear. Fear is so often the reason we do nothing, isn’t it? By the way, in business-speak the term for “fear” is “concern.” Think about it, next time someone uses their sterny-serious face to describe their “concerns” replace that word with “fear” and just try and tell me it doesn’t work.   The reason I dig Kaizen is that for an ADD-Creative like myself, its truly  manageable way to implement ideas, processes and concepts.

How does Kaizen relate to social media?

Consider the fear most businesses (yours?) have when beginning a social media program. If we’re honest with ourselves, the only reason businesses today don’t employ social media already is because they are afraid. Afraid that they don’t know how to do it.  Afraid of the time it takes. Afraid of the technology. Afraid of what they will learn. Afraid of what will and won’t happen.  FEAR. Useless fear.

Kaizen encourages us to ask simple questions of ourselves, our employees and within the context of social media, I would add customers. Start by asking your employees simple questions about social media. Why don’t you start with “why should we do it?” and see what you get back. Then you could ask them “where should we have a social media presence?” Give every employee’s voice equal weight, no matter if they are your VP of marketing or the janitor. You never know where revolution will take place…huh, just like some where else: social media. Now start asking your customers simple questions: “what is one thing we could do better?” that’s it. One question. See what you get. Its likely to inspire you to take action, even if that action is small, you’ve just harnessed social media using Kaizen. Once you get in the habit of asking questions, you’ll see how exciting the answers can be – and how simple ideas can take a mediocre situation and make it amazing. YAY!! YAY!! You’d like that, wouldn’t you?!

Let’s begin with the smallest of steps for starting a successful social media program for your business.

1) If you don’t already: jump on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and create an account for yourself (not your business, not yet).

2) For all the social media platforms you created an account for, find 1 interesting person or business a day to follow. Could be a competitor. Could be a famous person you are interested in. Anything. Indulge your curiosity. Do this for a week.

3) Spend 30 seconds everyday checking into the account and seeing what’s new, seeing what others are saying or doing. Do this for a week.

Pat yourself on the back, you’ve just started the first step in the most important part of social media: listening.

Before going to step 4, ask yourself “what type information did I most like seeing from people?”

4) Now, with these accounts, continue to use them as your personal testing ground. Spend an additional 30 seconds interacting with the people and businesses you follow. You might send them a comment, “like” something they said, ask a business a question. Ask a guru a question. Share information you think is interesting. Could be anything, a business article, a picture of your dog. Anything. Imagine rather than restrain.

5) Now, spend 30 additional seconds a day thanking people for commenting on your tweets, or passing them on.

Congratulations, you have just started the second most important tenant of social media: engaging.

Now, ask yourself: “How did it feel when someone responded to my question? How did it feel when someone thanked me?”

You now have the basic tenants down of social media: everything you need to know about social media you learned in Kindergarten.

But the really interesting idea of the Kaizen approach with social media is how well it scales. The more time you spend on your small steps, the bigger your change will be. Social media works the exact same way, you get what you give and a thousand small actions lead to big effects. Social media is rarely about “viral” its usually more about the day to day. Its rarely about tens of thousands of followers, usually its more about the 100 or so who communicate with you regularly.  But with social media your day to day reaches ever increasing potential. The more you follow and repeat the above steps for your business, the more you expand upon them, the more success you will have.

Now get outta here and start asking small questions and start taking small actions! Have fun.

Its hard to keep up with all the books coming out about social media for business. There are so many layers to this topic that entire (worthy) books have been written on social media philosophy, content creation or audience engagement. With all the dynamics elements to creating a successful social media presence, its sometimes hard to know where to start or even what books are worth the time investment.

But WikiBrands by Mike Dover and Sean Moffit ties all the necessary components into a social media strategy together with some helpful tactics.  Where WikiBrands differs is that it incorporates all those key subjects and more while also discussing the often ignored role of the brand. Branding is particularly relevant for small and medium sized businesses or start-ups who are looking to start or increase their social media voice. While most the examples within the book are of enterprise-sized businesses, the mini-case studies of numerous different types of brands ranging from WD-40 to Lunapads (a feminine protection product) to the oft-cited Zappos, Wikibrands proves that no matter the product, engagement can happen with a strong and willing brand. Businesses of all sizes can learn something from these examples and by implementing the FLIRT model that is roadmap to Wikibrand success, even the smallest entrepreneur can create a place for themselves in social media.

But before we get started: what exactly is a Wikibrand? According to the authors:

Wikibrand(s): noun

A progressive set of organizations, products, service, ideas and causes that tap the powers of customer participation, social influence and collaboration to drive business value.

It seems like a simple enough description, but the devil is indeed in the details of a successful Wikibrand.  The book begins with some branding 101 and then provides examples of the benefits of Wikibranding. Now, here comes the beef: it transitions nicely from the philosophical to the action plan with a concise roadmap called FLIRT, an apropos acronym according to the authors since flirting is “pulse raising, human and engineered to impress.” The other reason this acronym works is that each section represented is not only in order of steps, but importance. Each element has its own chapter: Focus, Language and Content, Incentives & Motivations & Outreach, Rules Guidelines & Rituals, Tools. I particularly appreciated the process of the FLIRT model. By encouraging businesses to start out with their focus and strategy and then move through to the other elements, the authors Dover and Moffit support what so many marketers know, but what so many companies ignore in their rush to create a program.

But understanding how to begin your social media presence is the first phase, building community then analyzing and measure the community and Wikibrands includes those very important topics as well. The community development chapter may seem intimidating to smaller businesses, but the chapter is a worthy read still since it articulates some of the motivations that people have for being part of a community. Understanding the needs of humans, rather than computers is the essence of Wikibrand success. Wikibrands even spends a chapter on personal brand development. I did wish that Wikibrands spent more time on measurement, but the authors do articulate some common measurement mistakes and make recommendations for measuring success based on your goals rather than more common tactics.

As you move through the FLIRT model, you’ll have lots of statistics that are worthy of your next powerpoint presentation along with research that is hard to get your hands on. While the road map of FLIRT doesn’t go into specific tactics, its a good brainstorming exercise for any marketer. Frankly, Wikibrands should be required reading for any business or marketing professional considering or executing a social media presence. For consultants Wikibrands offers an organized way to help your clients navigate through the complex choices in social media. I plan on giving a copy to my clients.

Resources: Register here for a Webinar with the authors on March 31st, sponsored by Social Media Club