A client recently told me last week that he hired us to "do" social media so that he would not have to be involved. What! Really? Would he ever consider having a store without a sales staff? This is the essential conundrum we have been wrestling with in recent weeks. Businesses, particularly small businesses and nonprofits, are running lean and over-tasked-especially in this rocky economy. Therefore, it's difficult for many of them to even conceive of adding a litany of new online tasks to their already maxed-out agendas.
And yet, a thriving, organic social media presence is critical to practically every business' success in our new-media marketing universe. From texting to tweeting, we recognize the value of involving customers and empowering word of mouth online, but the question is, What is the best way to get it done? How do we manage it all?
It seems to me it comes down to two options - coaching or doing. Should you hire a coach or consultant to train you and/or your employee(s) to blog and work the key social media platforms? Ideally, strategy and daily activity must work in concert to achieve best results. A post here and there does not a social media campaign make. The other option is t0 hire someone outside of your organization to "handle it" -posting, responding, blogging, monitoring, driving, and analyzing. What is most productive? How will you optimize ROI?
Here's the rub - we are trying to force social media into a traditional public relations and advertising paradigm. Hire an agency; produce some ads; run the ads; hope for good response, and move on to the next campaign. However, social media defies the typical one-way, sequential marketing communications models. It requires ongoing attention, 360 degree tending, focused involvement, authenticity, transparency, systematic monitoring, creative energy, and a real persona. Thus, we need an entirely different delivery system and process. But what will that be? How does that look?
Of course, the program will vary in size and scope -whether you are Best Buy or Frank's Nail Salon, but the realities of execution may not be that different. For many retailers, it's all about customer service - an inside team that monitors and responds to customer comments and complaints. For others, it's about launching new products via Facebook, for example, or running limited-time discounts and deals. Regardless of the content, the relationship-building objective probably surpasses of the importance of the final tallies of coupons redeemed or contests entered.
So, maybe we need to think of "doing" social media more like conducting an orchestra in real time, as opposed to downloading a series of iTunes songs. An orchestra needs a conductor to keep time, indicate when to come in and when to stop - or know when to staccato or to legato. Like an orchestra performance, a social media campaign can be led by a "conductor." But for maximum effectiveness, the organization's actual players (the musicians) should be directly involved in making the music. They listen to each other, sense the audience's reaction, drive the melody, layer the harmonies-all playing on the same page of music.
What do you think? How are you managing you social media efforts? What has worked and what has not? Share your stories.