I recently attended a SMPS seminar on Social Media Marketing in San Francisco. Rick Klau of Google was the featured speaker. Rick is the Business Product Manager for Google’s Blogger and ran the campaign weblog for President Barack Obama’s 2004 Senate race. He is a well respected authority in Social Media Marketing. Rich Burns, Founder of the GNU Group was also in attendance with me.
Over the past year and half both Rich and I have pushed ourselves to both embrace and understand this wave of Social Media that seems to have permeated the airwaves, TV, web and blogisphere. We’ve learned a lot as it relates to GNU’s marketing efforts as well as those of our clients. We are finding that a good majority of our clients are interested in Social Media and are eagerly seeking advice in establishing a well organized Social Media Platform.
With that said, here is just some of the advice Rick presented:
You are not in control. And that is sometimes the beauty of it but can also be what scares the BA-JEE-ZUSS out of some companies. This reinforces the need for a well planned approach to your Social Media Platform. What do you want to communicate? Who do you want to communicate to? What tools/applications will you utilize to communicate?
Not all Social Media Applications are for everyone. So just because you’ve embraced Social Media does not mean you have to have a FACEBOOK page or TWITTER account. GNU Group currently doesn’t although that may change on the near future.
The “just post it and they will come” mentality does not work. You need to actively engage in Social Media, cross pollinate in venues and with other Social Media users you want to be communicating with. Push content. Example, I know that if I do not push this post to a few people, it probably won’t be read.
Expect to make mistakes and even screw up. This is a whole new way for companies to broadcast their intellectual property that is vastly different than traditional marketing. It will take awhile to get up to speed, hone the tone of your message and direct/push it to the correct audience.
When it comes to blogging, don’t feel that it needs to read like a formal dissertation. There is an acceptable and even beneficial level of informality that can help potential contacts and business relationships blossom by being yourself or communicating with a casual tone. Not all posts need to read like a press release.
Don’t avoid Social Media because you think you do not have the time. This seemed to be one of the BIG issues brought up during the seminar by audience members. Rick’s comment, if you have time to e-mail, you have time to engage Social Media. Again, have a smart plan in place and stick to it.
In summary, Social Media is here to stay and while there is still is a lot of skepticism of it’s ROI there is no doubt it can contribute to your company’s (or Project’s) visibility on the internet and beyond.
