Social Media Strategy Q & A

Question:

I liked your examples of how Levi and JC Penney are leveraging social media. But how does this start? Do people just get in a room and decide to create social communities for their companies? I can’t get my executives off of vision statements much less convince them we need a Facebook page for our company! Can we start small?

Answer:

Drivers of social media can be global—meaning that there is widespread consensus across the company about the goals for social media and the new behaviors it will enable. Or it can be “local,” exclusive to one line of business or working group. In fact, in my experience the most effective social media initiatives are decidedly not global but focus on the objectives of a single department or brand. Look at Del Monte’s “I Love My Dog” …

Question:

I liked your examples of how Levi and JC Penney are leveraging social media. But how does this start? Do people just get in a room and decide to create social communities for their companies? I can’t get my executives off of vision statements much less convince them we need a Facebook page for our company! Can we start small?

Answer:

Drivers of social media can be global—meaning that there is widespread consensus across the company about the goals for social media and the new behaviors it will enable. Or it can be “local,” exclusive to one line of business or working group. In fact, in my experience the most effective social media initiatives are decidedly not global but focus on the objectives of a single department or brand. Look at Del Monte’s “I Love My Dog” campaign for its pet foods brands.

For a more global approach look at the work of Scott Monty, the head of social media for Ford Motor Company, who polishes his company’s brand every day.

Question:

I read your blog for your observations on BI, CRM, and data integration. Why are you blogging about social media so much these days?

Answer:

‘Cuz I have a blog and I’m not afraid to use it! Seriously, I’m writing more about social media because my clients are talking more about it. And if you really think about it, analytics, data integration, CRM, and social media are really of a piece: they should work together to enhance our understanding of our customers’ behaviors and preferences.

Question:

I really like your 4 Es. Is there an order to them?

Answer (in 2 parts):

Part 1: No order. It really depends on your business priorities, your branding strategy, what you want from your customers, and the whether there’s an implied quid pro quo to participate in your on-line communities.

Part 2: Make that FIVE Es of Social Media Strategy! This is courtesy of my friend Phil Simon, who rightly suggested a 5th E: Evaluation.

Phil’s point was that measurement of social media success is fairly straightforward, so you should plan on a regular way of assessing whether Expose, Engage, Entertain, and Educate are really working. Hence, the “E” for Evaluate.

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