“Just Do It” Isn’t A Social Media Strategy
February 3, 2010 – 12:07 am | by Daryl Tay
So you hear the good news that your boss/client wants to get started with a social media strategy. Before you start jumping for joy, does the conversation sound anything like this?
Boss: Let’s get on social media – let’s start with Twitter
You: Why? What’s the objective?
Boss: We’ll think about that later, just do it
If that’s what it sounds like, I can almost guarantee in 6 to 12 months that very person is going to be asking you “so how have we done on Twitter?” and you’re going to say “err but we didn’t specify any goals” and it’s going to be a one way ticket to hell. And you know what? In all likelihood if you’re doing it for the sake of “just doing it”, it’s probably not going to be work you’re going to be proud of anyway.
Instead, the conversation should go something like this:
Boss: Let’s get on social media – let’s start with Twitter
You: Why? What’s the objective?
Boss: I want to use it to improve customer service
You: So we’re going to monitor all mentions of our brand and respond to complaints and rectify them?
Boss: Yes
Replace “Twitter” with “Facebook” or “blog”, replace “improve customer service” with “increase lead generation” or “decrease costs’ and you get the gist.
Ideally it should go even further than this to identify whose time will be allocated to this, how much time and how the initiative will be measured.
You need to do this from the get go. Set the expectation early that social media efforts – while free/cheap – take time. Don’t let your desire to do some social media work/please your boss/please your client get in the way of this. It’ll save you a world of hurt later.
How do you deal with “just do it” requests? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
[image credits: themachobox]
Tags: blog, brand mentions, customer service, decrease costs, facebook, increase lead generation, just do it, leadgen, social media, social media goal, social media objective, social media strategy, themachobox, ticket to hell, twitter
5 Responses to ““Just Do It” Isn’t A Social Media Strategy”
By Kevin Lim on Feb 3, 2010 | Reply
Playing devil’s advocate, “just doing it” might work sometimes, provided that the ones in charge are willing to experiment. Freedom to tinker is so important, yet often understated.
That said, on the pragmatic side of things, is something I find myself saying over and over again: “If a business is already having a tough time managing existing channels of user feedback, then having new social media channels may be equivalent to corporate sensory overload.”
“Improving customer service” is a positive reason to exist in the social media space. Diligent organizations are the ones with specific strategies that are able to convert such social media campaigns to bottom-line results.
P.S. Good luck with your job hunt. I’m also seeking my future career.
By Daryl Tay on Feb 3, 2010 | Reply
@Kevin Lim: Hey thanks for commenting! Yes I agree with you. I mean if the goal is to just get familiar with the platform “just go play around with Google Analytics to get used to the interface/setting up goals etc” I think that’s okay.
And yes to your second point, that’s also a big concern. If the boss/client hasn’t been sufficiently advised on how much resources such an initiative is going to take and they end up with an overflowing Facebook Fan Page with tens of questions left unanswered, they might even have been better off not starting that Page in the first place, rather than be perceived as starting it and then not caring about customers.
Thanks for the well-wishes and all the best for you too!!
By Walter on Feb 18, 2010 | Reply
I find that having a social media presence alone – as you alluded to – doesn’t automatically translate into overnight fame unless your business is already a household name, has an outstanding product or service, or resonates with a highly e-savvy crowd. Often, the problem lies less with handling and managing negative customer feedback than with generating any kind of interest in the first place. “Build it and they will come” is an illusion the world of social media infrastructure.