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10 tips B2B online marketers must know about engaging social mediamarketing
A brilliant and comprehensive list of How-tos written by  Paula Drum .Originally titled: 10  tips for Social Media Marketers.
 There are some key learnings about social media that every corporate social mediamarketer should know:1.
Every brand can be and should be “social”
- Conversations about yourbrand and products are happening everywhere. You need to be part of theconversation and if H&R Block can make taxes social, your product can be socialtoo.2.
Just get started
 – It doesn’t take a big budget to get started in social mediamarketing. In fact, much of social media marketing is human capital. Start bylistening. Set up Google alerts to look for conversations about your brand orproduct. Use TweetDeck and set up a brand search to monitor what is going onabout your brand or product in the Twitterverse. Then participate in theconversation, just remember to be authentic, honest and transparent and you willbe fine. If you take the first steps to engage in the conversation you will learnmore about how your brand or product fits into the social media space and it willhelp guide any future programs.3.
Integrated marketing vs. social media
- There is a difference between anintegrated marketing campaign that includes viral components or online/offlinecoordination and a social media program. A marketing campaign has a short life;it is singular in desired action and is usually focused on demand generation. Asocial media program is a commitment to engage and communicate withconsumers where the consumer wants to communicate. If you are going to starta marketing campaign with social elements versus a social media program, youmust start with the end in mind. The worse thing a marketer could do is build agroup of fans, friends or followers without a clear exit strategy after the campaignis completed.4.
Find your brand’s own path
 – What works for one brand in social media doesnot mean it is right for another. For example, the path of engagement with amovie franchise is very different than engaging consumers about taxes.Remaining true to your brand promise is the best way to approach social media.Utilize your brand promise as a guiding principle across all your social media
 
efforts. Reflect it in the content that you create, the tone that you use, and theprograms that you develop.5.
Media $ versus human capital
 – I mentioned human capital earlier. Companiescan spend a lot of money trying to launch a social media program. For the mostpart, I would really classify those efforts as an integrated marketing campaign.Your approach and funding of an integrated marketing campaign needs to be inline with the size and scope of your overall marketing budget. Social mediaprograms can be a lot more cost efficient from a media budget standpoint, but,you still need human capital to run them. In many cases you may be tradingmedia $ for the human capital needed to run a program. For example if you aretaking the first step of listening and engaging in the conversation, there is nomedia buy necessary. However, you do need to have some person dedicated toscanning and responding. Ideally, that person is an employee of the company.Why this should be an employee leads to the next tip.6.
Agencies play a great role, but the voice needs to be the company’s
-Therehave been many company backlashes by having your agency respond in thesocial media space. Remember that the consumer wants to connect with you,not your agency. Your agencies can monitor and identify opportunities, but it isthe company that needs to respond – authenticity is key.7.
Your agency needs to walk the walk
– I hate paying an agency to learn on mydime. When we started three years ago, social media was so new and changingso rapidly that we were all learning together. Today there are many differentagencies that are building expertise in social media including public relationsfirms, interactive agencies and newly formed agencies focusing on social media.As you select an agency partner make sure that they don’t just talk the talk butalso walk the walk. Are they active in social media? Does the agency blog ortwitter? Judge the agency not solely on their pitch, but also on their actions.8.
Get legal involved early
– Your legal department can be an ally or a roadblock.What you need to understand is that in the area of social media there is not a lotof legal precedence to draw on. This makes your legal department nervousbecause it is more difficult to know the best way to protect the company. Involveyour legal department early and help them understand your goals so you canbuild a partnership and not hit as many roadblocks. Ask your legal department tohelp you solve for the risks versus just state that you cannot proceed with a
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