Most companies fear social media. They fear it because they don't understand it, can't control it, and find it almost impossible to measure it. It is strange and new and chaotic, almost like a virtual Wild West -- there's Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, YouTube, wikis, RSS feeds, online forums, and hundreds of other profoundly disruptive technologies. All of this is enough to cause minor consternation, or even severe hypertension, for most of us. But oddly enough, not only is this a good thing, it's a great thing.
A new relationship has emerged between companies and customers because of these dominant cybertools; one that is based more on trust, authenticity, and reciprocity and less on top-down centralized corporate control. This relationship is healthier and more egalitarian, and consequently presents a huge opportunity for businesses to more genuinely and deeply engage their consumers.
The $1 million question, of course, is how? Countless blogs, articles, speeches, and panels have been devoted to "the secret laws of success" for social media marketing. The reality is, however, there are no magic recipes. Repeat: There is not a single tried-and-true formulaic model to guarantee success in Web 2.0/3.0. There are not even a handful of case studies that can be used as best practice roadmaps. And the reason for this is because, by definition, social media is a living, breathing, constantly evolving organism and has to be treated as such. What works for one company with one set of customers one week is unlikely to work for another company the next week, even if that company is in the same industry and has similar customers.
But why?
The best answer to this mystery partly lies in these social media technologies themselves. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, in particular, are designed to be ubiquitous tools for fresh, innovative content and engagement. This means that whatever social media channel or campaign a company uses, its approach must be original, varied, constant, targeted, time sensitive, fun, and proactive. In other words, if you're looking to repeat a successful strategy used by another company, consumers' reactions will range between boredom and suspicion, causing them to lose interest in what they deem to be an unoriginal brand and potentially causing them to question the value of your product or service.
Likewise, if your company fails to maintain a robust presence on several of the major social media sites, the brand blow-back could be tremendous. To put this in context, if you're not on Facebook, Twitter, and a few other platforms, it's almost like your company doesn't even exist (particularly if you have a small or medium-size business). Consumers increasingly believe that, at a minimum, engaging in social networking is just as or more important than maintaining a corporate website and traditional offline customer service relationships. Consumers also believe that wherever they are, it's your responsibility as a company to be there, too. They want to know you care about them and will meet them on their own turf and work within their own rules. It's really commercial democratization at its best, and now customers expect more from businesses than ever before.
Of course, as mentioned earlier, all of this is enough to cause deep-seated fear in legacy companies or organizations that feel they don't have the time, talent, strategy, or budget to be successful in social media marketing. But this fear is irrational. While social media marketing is by no means easy -- many wrongly believe that if you just build it, 'they' will come -- it certainly shouldn't be perceived as a threatening, anxiety-building experience.
That said, here are a few guiding principles that will allow your organization to be fearless in social media. (Please note: there are no hard rules in social networking, as rules by definition are narrow, limiting, and conservative, and web 2.0/3.0 by definition is expansive, limitless, and progressive.)
It's not about you, it's about your customers
You need to think, feel, and act how your customers think, feel, and act. You must understand their hopes, wants, and desires even beyond their interest in your product or service. This means posting relevant, engaging content that is central to their lives, not just to your company. If you only tweet about how great your business is or what promotion you're offering, people will tune you out and start to think all you do is spam.
But don't despair. The good thing about all of this is that, because of breathtaking advancements in consumer analytics, customers are now explicitly telling you how they view your product or service in the context of their own lives and giving you hints on how to market to them. If you use strategic keywords in TweetDeck or Google Result Time Search, for example, you will know specifically what consumers are saying about your brand -- this data is much more accurate than traditional surveys and polls because it is user-generated and not company-solicited -- and you can then micro-target your social media, online, and offline marketing approaches based on this.
You need multiple strategies
Customer relationship management (CRM) is inherently different on every social networking platform -- even if you are talking to the same customer -- and must be viewed as such. Each community has its own identity, practices, assumptions, and expectations, and not only must you understand them, but you also need to understand your specific objectives and return on investment for each of them (defined as fans, followers, leads, or sales). Finally, it is crucial that you focus on engaging only three to four social media technologies (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Bit.ly) and constantly review your strategies on each (no less than once a week) because you will know immediately whether your approaches are working or not.
Don't be afraid to break stuff
This is the most important piece of advice you will ever receive about social media marketing. Your company must be bold, experimental, and highly unconventional, and if this means you make mistakes, then you make mistakes. Accept them. Embrace them. Promote them. But, above all else, try something wildly innovative and see if it works. Then do it again and again and again. And what this means is entirely up to you -- you don't need self-appointed experts to tell you what to do; as Nike would say, just do it.
If you follow these three principles -- and incorporate common sense, imagination, and an attitude for risk taking -- your company's ability to navigate social media will be limitless. After all, the only way you will ever be successful at this (or anything else in our increasingly interconnected and competitive economic ecosystem) is if you are unafraid of getting your hands dirty. So move forward courageously, be fearless, and don't let anything get in your way -- not even the opinions of this article.
Rob Carpenter is founder and CEO of Friendgiftr, Inc.
On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.
