So, what are the hallmarks of a brand that “gets it”? Social brands:

• Share- information, ideas, opinions and knowledge. They understand that social media is all about sharing and they actively seek new ways to open up with their enthusiasts.

• Value input- consumer ideas and recommendations and even complaints are seen as an opportunity not a hindrance to brand control. Social brands place a premium on the opinions of its market.

• Seek input- beyond valuing what customers say, social brands actively seek out conversations with their consumers.  They make it easy to engage and are eager to continue the discussion.

• Let it all hang out- social brands don’t go to extraordinary lengths to hide behind a brand façade. They lower the veil and give us a “behind the scenes” look-- understanding that the building of a great brand is dependent upon doing it in tandem with its customers.

Tell us more. What else makes a brand social?

Enjoy:

This was a billboard that appeared in Dublin for Honda, customers could ’start’ the car by texting to an SMS shortcode and also download information by Bluetooth. The campaign was created by GT Media and JC Decaux using technology provided by Púca.

A brand or corporation decides to get into social media and is “gung ho” for a month or two. Then reality sets in. Social media takes time, focus, energy and, most of all, planning to maximize. We’ve all seen the abandoned Twitter feeds, stagnant blog sites and ancient Facebook pages that held so much promise only a few months ago.

The key to social-media success lies in careful planning as we have discussed (see 8 Steps to Strategic Social Media Integration). Here are five common signs of a lack of social-media planning:

1. A singular focus on selling
   If every post, Tweet and Facebook update reads like an ad, then you are trying too hard to leverage the new media to sell in the old way – “buy my product, please.”  Maybe if you’re selling pizza delivery this approach works…maybe (see Papa John’s Facebook page).
2. No measurable objectives
   There is so much to learn (and to gain) if we only take the time to measure. That means looking beyond followers and fans and taking advantage of the trackable nature of this medium.
3. Too many measurable objectives
   There’s so much to measure, it’s easy to fall into analysis paralysis and curl up into a fetal position. Instead, breathe deeply and drill down to the metrics that matter: Is your content being shared? Are visitors returning regularly? Do your posts or updates on a particular product have a measurable impact on sales?
4. Sporadic posts
   Regular content updates are important. They build the relationship, encourage repeat visits to your site and establish credibility. So… where is your editorial plan and content distribution calendar?
5. “Anybody there? Hellooooo?”
   If you are not responding then you have a problem. From DM to Facebook comments, this is a personal and interactive space. Social media is often compared to a party. If someone starts talking to you, don’t be the brand that smiles flatly and looks around the room. Respond in earnest and follow up.

What now?

There is no magical ointment to fix any of the above social media ailments. However, there is a process to making your foray into facebook, twitter, blogs and other arenas more cohesive, engaging and effective. We’ve touched on a few elements in that process in this post. What about you? What do you consider an essential part of planning for an effective social media program?

In this session, attendees are introduced to a fictional company with a familiar business profile and marketing challenges  (e.g. limited resources, both B: C and B: B needs, regular product launches, etc).  After the audience gets familiar with the company we then conduct a step-by-step simulation in which a social media program is developed from the ground up.

While we can’t present the entire seminar in this forum, we have prepared an outline of the 8-step process for Strategic Social Media Integration for our readers.  Those steps, in order are:

1. Listen and educate internal stakeholders
   • Invest some time and energy in learning about social media.  Listen to the social web for sentiment about your company, and also learn from competitors and other categories.
2. Understand your audience and how they currently interact with social media
   • Using simple techniques and tools, learn which topics are important to your customers.  Find out how your customers are engaging with other companies.
3. Determine social marketing objectives
   • What do you hope to achieve with social media?  Are you interested in using it for customer service? To create a closed customer-feedback loop?  To provide product information?  To promote your products?  To build your brand?  Make sure that internal stakeholders agree on objectives and how to measure against them.
4. Set social media strategy and platforms
   • Develop a plan that identifies specific platforms and a strategy for each platform.  Select only those platforms to which you can commit time and energy.  Align audiences with appropriate platforms.
5. Determine support structure and resources
   • Set leadership responsibility and be sure to develop a cross-functional team.  It will be important to establish guidelines for employee engagement and identify how you will incorporate and distill feedback.  You may need to engage creative and/or technical resources for initial set-up and ongoing content creation and measurement.
6. Inventory existing content
   • Assess not only current marketing content that can be re-purposed for social media, but find the people in your company who are passionate and let them help you connect with customers.
7. Create and distribute new and re-purposed content
   • You will want to distribute content across platforms according to your plan, but don’t be afraid to continually explore new opportunities and platforms.  It is also important to drive interaction between existing online and offline marketing content and your new platforms. Determining a content schedule and editorial calendar are keys to success.
8. Measure and report
   • If your objectives for social media were to increase web traffic and online purchases, you need to be measuring against that objective.  Regular reporting and review are essential to leveraging an ongoing social media presence.  Understand which responses (i.e. views, posts, comments, etc) lead to the desired action.

We will be glad to share our approach in greater detail in a 1:1 setting. Just contact us at lsoper@brandmind.com to set a time to discuss.

Lori Soper is brandMIND’s Lead Marketing Strategist. With more than 20 years of corporate and agency experience, Lori’s strength is collaborating with clients to develop, execute and measure effective marketing programs. She can be reached at lsoper@brandmind.com 

Check out Erik Qualman at twitter.com/equalman or here: http://socialnomics.net

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Once upon a time, after a focus group one night, our client (a senior marketing VP at a leading package goods company) remarked,

“Customers really seem to like us more after they participate in these groups, wouldn’t it be great if we could get all our customers into a one on one session?”

That conversation took place more than 10 years ago when it was virtually impossible to have in-depth conversations with large numbers of customers or prospects in any sort of ongoing or meaningful manner.

Today, the story is different.

Brands are talking with more and more consumers at a deeper level than ever before. Social media platforms have made this possible. Whether augmenting a more traditional marketing effort or as a primary channel, social media venues are being leveraged increasingly by marketers seeking a stronger consumer connection.

What are the benefits of this deeper brand conversation?

• Brands are now getting first-person feedback in real-time. This “rapid customer input” is akin to conducting dozens of focus groups across the country at the same time. The insights and knowledge gained can impact everything from customer service policies to new product development.

• Consumers are getting a glimpse into a brand’s true personality. With every interaction no matter how small, greater dimension is being revealed about the brand and the company behind it.  Social media gives brands license to go beyond the headline and :30 spots to connect at a deeper level with its consumers.

• Brands are establishing greater credibility and deeper loyalty.  Just as direct contact with a brand representative during a focus group can increase likeability and preference so can direct communication via social media interaction. Dialogue benefits both parties and builds stronger, more lasting connections.

Plan. Plan. Plan.

Of course, being involved in hundreds or thousands of conversations with consumers can be overwhelming. But, with proper planning and purposeful integration across a brand’s public presence, the effort is well worth it.  This bears repeating-with proper planning.  

Too many brands have jumped into facebook and twitter without a plan. "We’ll just experiment and see what happens," they say.  Bad idea. Planning your objectives, monitoring strategy, disclosure policies, to name a few, are critical issues that need addressing ahead of time. Why? Because even though it isn’t as expensive as launching a new commercial, social media can ultimately have a huge impact on your brand. Whether that impact is positive or negative can be, surprisingly, more up to you than you might think.

Enjoy the show here:

http://bit.ly/YH0qm

The online chatter coming from PR professionals about public relations and social media is staggering. There are tips, studies, discussions on who should “own” social media within a communications or marketing group, help centers, 101 webinars, boot camps, case studies, advice Q and A’s. It seems endless.

There is good reason for this. Social media has, almost overnight, added a strange new dimension to an otherwise fairly stayed profession. Imagine if the PR world was only print – newspapers and magazines – and one morning you woke up to suddenly discover there was radio and television. What would you do? How would you use this new media? What would you tell your clients about it? The advent of social media is no different. If we don’t embrace the new/social media, and do so quickly, we certainly will be left in our own old media dust.

But midst all the hand ringing and hyperbole over “what to do,” there remain three crucial elements to the new media that cannot be neglected and must be embraced: content, content and content.

I will never forget what my senior partner, at the largest independent PR firm in the U.S., told me on my very first day: “You have to know how to write. We can teach you the PR, but if you can’t write, if you can’t communicate, you better find a new profession.” That was true 23 years ago and is still true today. A poorly written press release is no different than a poorly written blog, tweet or social network posting. The results are the same: squat.

Good content comes from knowing your audience, understanding the media delivery method, creative thinking, and the ability to craft your thoughts into words. (I also would add a healthy dash of “fun” to this mix, for without the “f” word, we run the risk of becoming academic, a.k.a boring, in our product.)

A recent article stated that PR hiring decision makers list “blogging” as one of the top three skills for job candidates. Yet, I believe blogging just to blog is counter productive. I have read hundreds of blogs by flack hacks that are, well embarrassingly bad – poorly written. If I were a client I would want my money back.

So, PR must embrace the social media. It’s here. Learn about it, become knowledgeable about it, use it and get over it. This is an exciting time to be in the PR business. But in all the enthusiasm for this brave, new cyber world let us not forget the basics that brought us here in the first place: content. First and foremost we must be communicators and know how to communicate well.

David R. White is brandMIND’s public relations guru. With more than 20 years of corporate and agency experience, David is a strong believer in getting the fundamentals right. He can be reached at dwhite@brandmind.com