Milla Kortesoja Assignment 4 1 (6)HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied SciencesMAR8LC067-2

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Creating Successful Social Media Strategies

What is a social media strategy?

Similar to other strategies, a social media strategy is a long-term plan of action to achieve a specific goal – in this case, how to succeed in social media marketing. Creating a social media strategy starts with planning. Armstrong and Kotler (2009, 69) define strategic plan-ning as the process if developing and maintaining a strategic fit between the organizations goals and cap-abilities and its marketing opportunities.

Without a proper strategy, it is easy to end up wasting time “getting lost in the social media jungle”. Shin (2010) argues that all businesses should have a social media strategy as it prevents misunderstanding and emphasizes why social media is relevant to the com-pany’s goals. A social media strategy helps to define objectives, saves time as the platforms and goals are known and adds extra value to company’s marketing strategy. Good results are achieved by measuring the milestones along the way. Measuring also helps to know how to change or further develop your strategy and social media presence. (King 2009)

A social media strategy may also include a social me-dia policy: instructions for the company’s employees on e.g. how to behave in social media, what to post about the company and is it acceptable to use social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter during work hours. Thompson (2010) suggests getting the en-tire company on-board can be very helpful, as instead of one or two people trying to create a social brand, you can make use of all employees experience to make a bigger impact.

How to: Create a successful social media strategy

Shin (2010) suggests it is a good idea to start building a social media strategy by introducing the topic to the company’s management team and making them under-stand that social media is a long-term commitment where results can not be instantly seen or measured. A company should not jump into social media without un-

Milla Kortesoja Assignment 4 2 (6)HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied SciencesMAR8LC067-2

15.9.2011derstanding its nature as a two-way-street and without being ready to invest time to building relationships.

Morthner (2010) states engaging content and authen-ticity as the basic principles behind a successful social media campaign. These two principles should be ap-plied whether launching a viral campaign or a simple online contest designed to drive website traffic. Morth-ner suggests to design a campaign that is creative and to do this by analyzing the goals and the target audi-ence’s behaviour so that the message engages as ef-fective and interesting as possible.

Plan Kautz (2011) suggests starting the planning process by defining how much time and money can be invested into the social media marketing on a daily basis. It is also important to know how much social media know-ledge you can bring to the table and to know if there is already employees in the company who are experi-enced social media users. Determining capacity and the need for training is essential and depends on the size of your business, budget and goals.

It is also important not to jump into social media without research. Shin (2010) suggests to create a list of potential social media sites e.g. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn or blogs, and to check out each site on the list. Searching the sites for your brand name, com-petitors and the target keywords of your interest can be useful as additional research.

Listen Before actively starting to produce your content, you should check out social media sites to see what your customers are already talking about. It is also useful to find out which of your competitors are online and what kind of content they are posting. A good way to mon-itor the chatter, according to Kautz (2010), is to search in directories such as LinkedIn Groups to find out what topics seem to generate most responses. Listing the trends on current topics will help you to craft your own content.

The right tools – and peopleAccording to Uhrmacher (2010) people want to have conversations with company representatives who are experts in their area and therefore you should find the right people to do this inside your company before en-gaging into social media discussions. These employees

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15.9.2011should also get a proper training on social media parti-cipation. Social media policy comes in handy so the employees know the appropriate way to engage in on-line conversations.

It is also important, instead of trying to participate in all social media platforms, to begin with one or two platforms that seem most useful for the company. Kautz (2011) states that most social media users can be found on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Whether you decide to first start with one or more social media sites, make sure your social media marketing plan is suitable in the long run.

Kautz (2011) also suggests choosing the monitoring tools: figuring out how to monitor each social media account is important. Facebook provides tools for this, such as e-mail or notification every time someone likes your product or writes on site’s wall. Twitter has alert system where your phone or social media browser alerts whenever someone sends a reply to direct mes-sage. This helps to keep track of the communication that is going on at your social media site. There are also tools such as Tweetdeck and Hootsuire to help in social media monitoring. Monitoring is essential as you need to interact with the people in social media and to do that you need to know what is going on and what are the current hot topics.

Engage Crafting content is fairly easy but to do this effectively, you should plan what to post, when to post and how of-ten to post. People don’t want to be spammed but want to receive information about new products and events so it is important to find the right balance on how of-ten to post. If your company has a schedule of special promotions or evens, you can use the schedule to time posts and tweets leading up to events. Kautz (2011) states the timing of your posts can greatly impact on the effectiveness of social media marketing. By trying out different days and times you will find the ones that work the best for you.

Engaging conversations with the customers in social media is what makes your social media marketing strategy actually work. Interacting is the most import-ant thing to remember. Uhrmacher (2011) suggests doing this by leaving comments on blogs, uploading images and setting up events on Facebook or building

Milla Kortesoja Assignment 4 4 (6)HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied SciencesMAR8LC067-2

15.9.2011a community on Twitter. There is many ways to en-gage and no one right answer how to do this – all means available are suitable as long as it illustrates your company’s commitment to developing online rela-tionships.

Kautz (2011) advices to plan your responses to all pos-sible situations that could happen on your social media account in case everything does not go as planned. So-cial media is a platform where the customers respond to your messages and where the conversation cannot be controlled. Social media also serves as a platform for customers to address their thoughts and opinions about the company. Therefore you need to know how to react in cases where the comments are not neces-sarily positive. If you plan your response well, you might actually be able to turn an unsatisfied customer into a regular visitor and a long time customer.

Measure and analyze It is important to set milestones and to meas-ure the effectiveness of social media marketing. By us-ing the tools you have decided in your social media strategy you will be able to boost your social media marketing return on investment. Shin (2010) advises to analyze social media campaigns, adapt to new find-ings into the current processes and improve your ef-forts. Testing and experimentation will make your so-cial media efforts even better as you will quickly un-derstand what works and what doesn’t. This also helps you to find the right tools to use in measuring and to find the right days and times to be active in social me-dia.

Kautz (2011) agrees with Shin and advises to adapt your social media plan as needed. There is always sur-prises on the way and things might not go as planned. Creating a document that includes all the social media efforts done and planned can be useful and clue you into elements you haven’t yet considered. Kautz also suggests using social media resources such as Mash-able and few other sites to find useful information.

Uhrmacher (2011) suggests, while using social media as an online tool, to also go offline and to use face-to-face interaction such as trade shows and events to build interest and stronger relationships with the members of the online community. This can be done in various ways from exclusive sessions to informal

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15.9.2011breakfasts or parties. It is also useful to ask yourself, if you learned something new about customers after so-cial media campaign or if the customers learned to know your company better. Another two useful ques-tions to ask are if you were able to engage the custom-ers in new conversations and is there an effective tool for reputation management and external feedback in the company.

Social media strategies vary depending on company and industry but the important thing is to have the whole company with its employees integrated into the company’s goals and objectives. Shin (2010) considers social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs as tactics that are part of the social media strategy and suggest to outline your social media strategy and support it with tactics. With a carefully planned strategy you will succeed in your efforts and avoid feeling overwhelmed by social media.

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References Armstrong, G. & Kotler, P. 2009. Marketing: An Inro-duction. 9th edition. Pearson Prentice Hall. New Jersey. The United States of America.

Inc.com 2010. Michael Morthner. 4 Ways to Master Social Media Marketing. Accessed: 14.10.2011. Ac-cessible: http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/07/how-to-make-a-social-media-marketing-strategy.html

Mashable 2011. Aaron Uhrmacher. How to Develop a Social Media Plan for Your Business in 5 Steps. Ac-cessed: 14.10.2011. Accessible: http://mashable.com/2008/07/10/how-to-develop-a-social-media-plan/

OneWomanMarketing 2011. Kelly Kautz. How To Make A Social Media Marketing Plan For Your Busi-ness. Accessed: 14.10.2011. Accessible: http://www.onewomanmarketing.com/social-media-marketing-plan

SearchEngineJournal 2010. Thompson, M. Getting All Employees Involved in Your Social Media Plan. Ac-cessed: 15.10.2011. Accessible: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/getting-all-employees-involved-in-your-social-media-plan/22443/

SocialMediaExaminer 2009. Cindy King. 7 Ways to Overcome the Social Media Time Sink. Accessed: 14.10.2011. Accessible: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/7-ways-to-overcome-the-social-media-time-sink/

SocialMediaExaminer 2010. Nick Shin. 7 Steps for a Successful Social Media Strategy. Accessed: 14.10.2011. Accessible: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/7-steps-for-a-successful-social-media-strategy/