May 17, 2010        •       www.visionsmc.com       •        410-849-8095   

 Editor's Note

When I was in junior or senior high school, I mentioned to my father that I was interested in going to the Naval Academy. He pointed out that I didn't wash my face and brush my teeth in the same order every morning and he didn't think I'd be a good fit.

He was right-I'm not a schedule person. My son started preschool this year. For the first time in five years, I had to follow a set schedule. It was an adjustment for me.

So, knowing that I don't like to be on a schedule, I struggle with the lack of schedule of this newsletter. Should I be more disciplined and send it out on a schedule, or should I send it when I've got something to say? If I stuck to a schedule, would I find more to say? If I don't stick to a schedule, will I have more valuable things to say?

I question and reevaluate Vision's strategic use of social media every time I help clients develop their own social media strategy and as I keep up with the evolution of digital publishing and social media. This is a quickly changing world.

Molly Hughes Wilmer   

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 Feature

What Are You Trying to Say And Why Are You Trying to Say It?

Strategic marketing applies to social media.

This is a difficult concept for some, since this marketing tactic is used not just by businesses but also by moms, kids, and celebrities. Just because you may know people who are tweeting or Facebooking about what they bought at the grocery or their last vacation doesn't mean it can't be used strategically for business. You can and should use it strategically.

What is the purpose of the business use of social media? The most general reasons to use social media (blogs, email newsletters, twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn)-for business are:

• To be perceived as a thought leader.
• To stay in front of your audience (members, prospects, clients, customers, referrers, etc.).
• To create a more personal relationship with your audience.

You may have additional reasons depending upon your business, but these three goals are rather universal. What metrics can be used to measure reaching these goals? The number of followers doesn't matter. You've got to develop your own metrics based on your tactics, your goals, and your audience. These could include the number of inquiries you get or the number of people who reference, quote or forward your content along.

So, with these goals in mind, here are some ground rules:

• Develop your definition of success-your metrics.
• Original thought and original content is king.
• Relevant content is king (read more about WIIFM: What's In It for Me?).
• Saying something just to say something is as annoying now as it was before social media.
• Find a theme, but don't be boring.
• Being personal is the only way to have a more personal relationship.
• It's a quickly changing world-don't get complacent with your strategy.

It sounds simple, but it takes some thought. All strategy does.

What Can I Do? Evaluate your social media strategy-if you have one. If you don't, develop one. What are your goals? You may want to look at this chart to understand the best uses today for social media. Are you trying to increase sales, increase size of your average sale, increase customer loyalty, or increase your repeat or referral rate? Are you trying to raise awareness of a new service offering or improve customer service? Are you trying to advocate a position, persuade people to change their opinion, raise awareness about a cause or issue? What tools are you using? If your message is visual, photos and videos can help tell the story. If you're publishing FAQs for software, demo videos could be really helpful. Does your audience prefer text, photos or video? Is there one author or many? How often are you sending a message? What metrics are you using to evaluate the effectiveness? Click throughs, reads and views are just the tip of the iceberg. Do you see an uptick in calls or emails generated by the messaging? Are you seeing a change in behavior? Are you reducing customer service complaints? Are you increasing sales? Also evaluate your controls-who is posting content, how is it edited, and how often it is distributed? Are you comfortable with your privacy settings? And do you have policies about employees and their use of social media-on company time, mentioning company information, etc.?

Ask the Expert Question Do I have to use social media? Answer No, you don't. But you don't have to grow your business or accomplish your mission either. Social media is a really inexpensive way to have a dramatic impact in getting your message out to your audience. Submit your questions to the editor: molly@visionsmc.com

 Want to Know More?

How is the industry evolving?

In August of 2008, a few months before I joined Facebook, there were 100 million active users-today there are over 400 million users.

Twitter saw a dramatic rise in use after the January 2009 aircraft landing on the Hudson broke on Twitter. After a 13% growth in March, 2009, Twitter's growth rates have fallen to 3%. Blake Shelton, who I'd never heard of until this announcement, has ended a year-long "addiction" to twitter. At the time, he had over 76,000 followers. He's not alone in thinking that Twitter has had its peak.

LinkedIn reported on October 14, 2009, "As of early this morning, LinkedIn has 50 million users worldwide and we're growing that figure at roughly one new member per second. When LinkedIn launched in 2003, it took 477 days - almost a year and four months - to reach our first million members. This last million took only 12 days."

Online video watching increased 53% in 2009.

New Chart: Rating the Effectiveness of Social Media in Terms of Objectives Achieved

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