First, a big thanks to:
Jeremy Flint (@jeremyflint) IPSA (@ipsaonline) Shift Workspace (@ShiftWorkspace) For hosting this presentation on quot; June 4, 2009.

Social Media Clients

So why create a quot;
social media strategy?

Without a clear direction, quot;
social media can pull you quot; in all directions.

Clear goals and realistic expectations
can help avoid: Wasted time Wasted effort Backlash Social media fatigue Missed opportunities

It starts with asking yourself
a few tough questions.

Question 1: What are you
after?

Sales? Client leads? Awareness? Proving
your brand? Buzz? Thought leadership?

Can you distill your quot;
social media mission down toquot; one sentence?

quot;Anything that creates positive lasting
memory is customer service.quot; — Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO

Zappos live chat excerpt: (done
entirely in 3rd person) Timmy: Timmy thanks Jonathan for good help. Jonathan: Jonathan welcomes Timmy. Can Jonathan do anything more for Timmy? Timmy: no that is all timmy needs Timmy: timmy happy Jonathan: Good. Does Timmy have an account set up with Zappos yet? Jonathan: Jonathan will upgrade Timmy’s account. Source: Twitter.com/Zappos

“Humanize the Ford brand and
put consumers in touch with Ford employees.quot; — Scott Monty, Ford Motor Co.

quot;Instill trust in the brand,
and highlight that the people behind the brand are parents too.” — Lindsay Lebresco, Graco

A core philosophy gives you
a daily focus and helps define your goals.

Question 2: How will you
know quot; if it’s working?

Social media gives you a
chance to set metrics that quot; suit your philosophy.

Graco’s mission: Reach 1,000,000 parents
online

What can be measured? Blog
posts Inbound traffic Reader comments Clickthroughs Twitter mentions Video views Twitter followers Channel subscribers Facebook fans Video embeds Links SlideShare views RSS subscribers Tags Google trends Diggs Alexa rankings Stumbles Search results App downloads Nielsen BuzzMetrics Podcast subscribers

What about impressions? CPM? Those
still have a place, especially in winning over quot; the old guard.

Measurement tools: There are lots
out there. My favorite? Google Docs.

Most data can be easily
tracked and graphed with simple spreadsheets.

Once your scope (and budget)
expands, consider paid monitoring services such as Radian6.

Question 3: Who’s responsible for
reaching these goals?

Social media is a murky
mix of PR, marketing, interactive, customer service and more. But try to make it everyone’s job, and it becomes no one’s job.

Now’s the time to quot;
take ownership, quot; take responsibility and take the credit.

Social media will never be
quot; a real part of your business quot; until it’s included in job descriptions and expectations.

Set your goals and live
by them, even if they seem arbitrary at first. Prove to your colleagues that this is work, not screwing around.

Question 4: What’s in it
for your customers?

Corporate social media is hollow
if it doesn’t create some sort of valuable content for the reader.

Provide your customers with insight,
sneak peeks, discounts, support, a good laugh, etc. Make yourself worthy of their time (and, hopefully, their money).

Question 5: Where do you
go from here?

Once you build momentum, quot;
don’t squander it. Use your successes to justify bigger budgets, more staffing and cooler projects.

And once you’re a blogillionaire,
don’t forget the little people, like… david.griner@luckie.com Twitter.com/griner TheSocialPath.com SlideShare.net/Griner