One of the benefits of working for a platform provider like thismoment is that we are often involved in projects at the early stages of development. Big Brands are starting to invest Big Bucks on the usual suspects – Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. The challenge is that many brands believe that because these platforms are viral, it’s simply a land grab; all they have to do is create an experience and people will find them through day-to-day social interaction.
Of course, common sense would dictate that, just as in the Gold Rush of the 1800’s, simply staking a claim doesn’t necessarily mean there’s “gold in them thar hills.” While thismoment certainly benefits from selling pick axes to the social gold miners of today, we benefit much more as our customers become successful in building out brand experiences with staying power across the various social platforms.
With that in mind, I’ve come up with a few common sense “Do’s & Don’ts” to help frame the rush to a social enterprise:
Do’s
• Build something that you, personally, would want to spend time on
“Engagement” is the SMM buzzword these days, but what does it really mean? It means people are a lot smarter than we generally think and they’ll see through a shiny façade and notice what’s underneath. In Earned Media, what that means is you need to have reasons for people to keep coming back.
Some of the best examples of engagement are companies like Disney Parks or Canon who’ve generated tens of thousands of user submissions; not because they dangled a big cash prize, but because they played to people’s emotions… “Share Your [Disney] Memory,” “Join Project Imagin8ion.”
• Market your new destinations
The same marketing rules apply in Earned Media as they do in Owned Media– building a great destination is a first step; making people aware it exists is the second step. Again, both Disney Parks and Canon spent considerable time and effort on TV, print and online letting people know about their new destinations. Moreover, as the campaigns evolved, they changed the messaging across Paid Media to drive users back to their Earned Media channels.
• Actually engage your customers
This one seems so obvious, but spend time on a major brand destination and look at who is posting to Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter on behalf of the brand. Have they outsourced to an agency? Have they taken the intern route? Or, are people who work at the Company actively participating in the communities they create?
One of the best examples I’ve seen of this is Time Warner Cable (not a thismoment customer, yet) – they have a team of dedicated people who actually work for TWC mining the social sphere and responding directly to what people are saying about them. It is certainly not all sunshine and roses, but isn’t it comforting to know that someone at the Company is actually listening?
Don’ts
• Don’t be a “Me, Too”
It’s hard to say social media is an emerging platform at this point, but for many Fortune 500 brands that’s exactly what it is. I saw a recent stat that just over 50% of the Fortune 500 has a Facebook presence. While that’s great news for Facebook as it represents a huge upside for them, what does it say about the other 50%?
In short, they are being cautious, making sure this isn’t a fad. When you’re cautious you have a tendency to copy someone who is successful. Resist this urge, please. Being a “Me, Too” is easily recognized and will lead to low engagement, few followers and may actually falsely validate this cautious approach.
• Don’t lock into one platform
Why shouldn’t you put all your eggs in the Facebook basket? They’ve won, haven’t they? First off, Facebook is a fantastic marketing platform and I take nothing away from them as they continue to innovate; however, there are many places within the social sphere that brands should be.
Why ignore YouTube and its 3.5 Billon video views per day? Why ignore Twitter with over 200 Million Tweets per day? Why ignore Linked-in, Instagram, or Flickr, for example. At a minimum, if you are not on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter you are missing the boat big time.
• Don’t put it up and forget it
This is an after-effect of having a social strategy crafted as a campaign as opposed to a persistent presence. A campaign mentality is all about “if you build it they will come.” In many cases, a brand will invest significant resources to activate an audience, only to shut them down when the campaign is over. Why in the world would you do this?
Brands need to drive attention to their social designations and engage. That means you have to innovate and give your fans, subscribers, etc. a reason to keep coming back. Again, Canon and Disney are great examples of brands that find innovative ways to keep driving attention to their social designations long after the TV flight has ended.
I wish it was a simple as listening to that voice inside your head saying “If you build it they will come”, but the social enterprise requires that brands themselves become social or, as Facebook luminaries often say, “Social by Design.” So, follow these do’s and don’ts and you should be at least a lap or two ahead of the field.
-Scott Greenberg
RVP, Eastern Region
Twitter: airgreenberg
