SOCIAL MEDIA PLANNING - WEEK 4




 

 

Planning Your Way to A Successful Social Media Strategy

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In this week's assignment the readings focused on creating social media plans. To me, planning your marketing and PR strategy, including social media, is similar to planning a trip. There are a several important items that need to be done before you leave on your trip! 

It is hard to reach your destination without a map or GPS. Your plan is like a map to show you the way to your destination (your goals).

Continuing with my analogy of taking a trip, most  people wouldn't  start without knowing where they are going, how they will get there, and how much money it will cost to get there! 

These are the types of questions you should be asking yourself as you plan your social media strategy. Here are other tips offered bySignals.CA at  Adweek.Com,

• Know your audience
• Define clear objectives
• Create key messages
• Plan your content
• Engage on Facebook
• Lead (& follow) on Twitter
• Manage your accounts

Know Your Organization's Goals 

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This may sound like a basic premise for constructing a marketing and PR plan however, this critical first step is sometimes overlooked. According to Scott, when the organizational goals are not clear, it's like watching seven-year-olds-playing soccer. "The lack of clear goals and real measurement reminds me of seven-years-olds playing soccer. If you've seen little children on the soccer field, you know they operate as one  huge organism packed together, chasing the ball. The children are focused on the ball instead of the goal" ( p 163).   

The first  step in strategic planning needs to include measurable goals with action items. A strong plan is one built on a foundation of actionable items, accountably and measurement.  The entire organization needs to operate as a unit with everyone in- step with the company's objectives. Many senior executives and leadership teams are hesitant to utilize social media because they have little knowledge or understanding about how social media works. Ignorance from the leadership team can unknowingly sabotage a strategic plan, especially since senior leadership who generally creates and executes the organization's plan.  It's important to engage senior management when creating your plan.

 

Developing Content to Reach Buyers

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In traditional marketing, marketers create a profile of customers and prospects. Through digital channels, robust personal information is available to pinpoint messages to this subset of customers. David Meerman Scott’s advice:  We "need to think about the information that our niche audiences want to hear, so why not build content specifically for these niche audiences and tell them on online story that is created especially for them? Once marketers and PR people tune their brains to think about niches, they begin to see opportunities for being more effective at delivering their organizations' message" (Scott, 2015 ).

 Scott introduces the importance of buyer personas, “Building buyer personas is the first step and probably the single most important thing you will do in creating your marketing and public relations plan” ( p 164).   Different personas require different approaches and messages.  Understanding buyer personas is a critical step that ties into the organization’s goals and Scott’s, next key point: the importance of rich, interactive web content. Scott states, "One of the simplest ways to build an effective website or to create great marketing programs using online content is to target the specific buyer personas that you have created. Yet, most websites are big brochures that do not offer specific information for different buyers. Think about it, the typical website is one size fits all, with the content organized by the company's product or services, not by categories corresponding to buyer personas and their associated  problems" (p 168).

I agree with Scott’s comment about the website being less of a static brochure and more of a dynamic customer interaction tool.  An interactive, logical approach to website design can appeal to many different buyer personas and position the organization as an expert. 

 Big Data is Big Business

Data management companies like Experian.com who are in the data management business, offer some interesting facts about how companies across the globe use data. “Good data is good for business. Data is fundamental to your organization, and the quality of that data is critical to your success. So it should come as no surprise that an overwhelming majority (more than 95%) of U.S. organizations say that they use data to power business opportunities. And if that’s not enough, another 84 percent of U.S. organizations say that they believe data is an integral part of forming a business strategy. Clearly, data has the potential to shape your organization” (Global Management Benchmark Report, 2017). 61% of businesses' use data to increase revenue.  Companies still use traditional data to create their strategic plan. Of course their primary objective is to increase revenue. 

Imagine if these companies used the information about their customers to create a buyer persona? They would be using actual data about the people most likely to use their product and service by engaging with them online.  

Chart 1 shows how businesses across the U.S. currently leverage their information to power opportunities. By the numbers, it’s clear that organizations are using their data to increase revenue (61%) and to better serve their customers (56%). Meanwhile, enhancing marketing efforts, reducing risk, and finding new revenue streams rank further down.

Survey Produced by Loudhouse for Experian Data Quality in November 2016, the study polled more than 1,400 people across eight countries around the globe. A variety of roles from all areas of the organization were surveyed, including information technology, data management, marketing, customer service, sales, operations, and more. Respondents were chosen based on their visibility into their organization’s customer or prospect data management practices. Organizations that were surveyed came from a variety of industries including IT, telecommunications, manufacturing, retail, business services, financial services, healthcare, public sector, education, utilities, and more.

 

 

 

 

 Let’s Think About It! 

This week’s discussion questions: 

• What do you hope to accomplish as an organization by incorporating social media into your Marketing/PR strategy?  

Be sure to include what kind of challenges you think you or your company may face.  

• David Meerman Scott wants you to "Think Like a Publisher".  Thinking like a publisher, what steps would take you engage your Buyer Personas?

 Looking forward to a great discussion!!!

 Quote of the Week:

References

Dugan, L. (2012, October 12). The Social Media Strategy Cheat Sheet . Retrieved from Adweek.com: http://www.adweek.com/digital/social-media-strategy-cheat-sheet/?red=at#

Experian . (2017, February 1). Retrieved from Experian.com Innovation Thought Leadership : https://www.experian.com/innovation/thought-leadership/2017-data-management-benchmark-report.jsp

Scott, D. M. (2015). The New Rules of Marketing & PR. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.