onals simply need to go back to school. They may be experts in the way to push marketing, create attention grabbing ad campaigns, branding and traditional messaging. They may have a knack with developing a catchy commercial. However, I am amazed daily about the household name brands failing to understand how to deploy a savvy social media/marketing/networking campaign. Here are a couple of basic ideas I formulated on my walk this morning:1) It isn’t about you or your brand. It is about your customer and what is in it for them. Without them, your brand doesn’t exist. Customers own your brand, sorry you don’t.
2) You won’t be able to realize “what’s in it for them” unless you are willing to LISTEN. In the words of Dr. Frazier Crane, “I’m Listening”. This is called “Pull” marketing.
3) Stop trying to figure out what you are going to “Push” at people. In the social realm, pushers are no better than drug dealers. The good people recognize you for what you are… a bad person not playing by the rules of the society and they steer clear.
Brands need to understand opening up a channel of communication will change and affect the entire company. With social marketing, you are engaging the customer. Yup, that is the new buzz word… everyone wants to “engage” their customers. It is important to remember a lesson from real life. When two people get “engaged”, there is a promise to honor and to commit to one another. Engagements impact people’s lives. This will impact your organization. Sometimes, it will shake the roof. By listening to an audience, there will be a lot of noise. However, think of the good that can come from embracing great ideas for new services, processes, and products. If you are worried about what your customers are actually going to say about your brand and organization, you have bigger problems. This may be the prime time to ask your prime audience for help.
What lead me to write this? Last night, I did some primary research for a former colleague of mine interested in how social networking might positively impact the staffing offices she manages. I would consider this person an action taker. She is smart and looks for ways to improve her team and the overall enterprise. I looked at four major staffing companies. I did the same process with each of them.
1) How was social networking being used on companies primary website? Did they have multi-media? Did they have either RSS feeds or Follow me sections. … and heavens did they have a place for their customers (temps and hiring managers) to hang out and engage (there is that word again) the company.
2) Three of them did have the” follow me”. I then explored both Twitter and Facebook usage.
3) Only one was actually listening and responding to people on Twitter and “engaging” in the conversation. Two were following no one and they hadn’t posted content on their Facebook fan pages in at least 45 days.
Basically, these staffing giants which are really just the type of companies which should just “get” it down to their bones are failing at the basics of social marketing. What is a staffing company? It is a company that through its’ relationships connects workers/professionals with hiring companies based on both soft and hard skills. The social web is simply an extension and additional tool. I was stunned. I guess you know who I am calling today. In the end, it comes down to building out a business plan for your social strategy.
Plan, think, engage, listen, and be able to act on ideas, problems, and embrace your audience.
Now, take the megaphone away from your mouth and put it to an ear.
