A successful social media presence requires thoughtful care and feeding. As the name suggests, this new engagement medium is uniquely communal. Left unattended, a randomly stitched together network will end like Dr. Frankenstein's creation; a sad and hideous monster. Any rational business person would advocate a strong strategic plan before committing time and resources toward any marketing endeavor but that is what many companies do with social media.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you know the social web has transformed more than the online world. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, within the past four years, the number of adult internet users who have a profile on a social network has more than quadrupled (click to see Pew report). News events are twittered and disseminated around the world as they happen. Families connect via electronic means to have video conversations and share family photos. Friends communicate good and bad experiences amongst their close-nit and wider networks. This amalgamation of physical and virtual worlds has had tremendous implications on commerce. No longer able to continue business as usual, companies and marketers have taken notice of social media's power. Some have done a great job of engaging and have reaped the benefits. Many others take the approach some use to tell if spaghetti is ready to eat; throw it against the wall and see if it sticks. To be successful within the world of social media, a methodical approach to social media engagement has to be planed and executed.
The world of commerce (B2C as well as B2B) has turned on its head. Customers, whether purchasing for themselves or corporate procurement look to self-educate before striking up a conversation with a sales representative. Studies show, more people are logging into the internet to get information about pricing and bargains (click to see Pew report). As the social web has exploded, people look most trustingly to their networks for product and service endorsements. The goal for social media marketers is to become part of a (potential) customer's recommendation chain; a member of their trusted network.
So, how does one become a part of the recommendation chain?
Network - Contribute - Participate
A methodical approach: Find where your customers interact within the social web. Reach out and network with them. Contribute value to the conversation(s) and continue to participate. Connecting requires more than an advertisement on MySpace or a fan page on Facebook. It demands planning, research, and a commitment to continuous, open involvement. As Dr. Frankenstein's creation lacked the legitimacy of a real human and therefore never connected; people and business seeking to be members of trusted recommendation chains must be authentic.
Trent Sherrell
