When you are providing web strategy services for companies that do anything from selling chair covers to niche TMJ jaw pain remedies the question of using "social media" comes up frequently if not constantly. Sure, it's the new hot way of marketing and if you pay any attention you can't help but hear more about facebook and twitter every day. The problem is that too many companies think about social media as a tactic not as a strategy. This unfortunately is a common approach (all be it to a lesser extent) to building a website or starting a blog.

The Problem

I am sure if you do client work you have run into the situations where someone comes up with the idea to "do a blog." With out really discussing the "who, what, why, when and how." IE: Who is going to read the blog? What is going to be on it? Why would they read it? How are they going to find it?

This tends to be much much more dangerous with social media as a dormant and unvisited blog looks bad but doesn't attract a lot of attention. With social media you are connecting with people on a personal level so any action or inaction is watched on a closer level and with a higher level of scrutiny.

Recently I did a presentation for some bright students at Eastern Michigan University regarding why social media succeeds or fails (you can see my slides here). In preparation I was able to really boil down my thoughts as to the core elements of social media marketing strategies. To be honest about my general viewpoint regarding social media and marketing is that 80% of the time it is used in the wrong situations and in the wrong ways. You could say I am a harsh critic of social media and recommend against using it more often than I recommend it (I will go into why a bit later).

What To Consider

Typically when a company or brand gets on the social media "band wagon" they will go out and sign up for what ever range of networks that suits their fancy, friends people how ever they can and then proceed to broadcast updates about the company or brand. Thanks, that's annoying. Tivo and DVR tools have proven that people prefer to skip commercials and other forms of broadcast interruptions, why would they want to invite it into their social interactions as well? Hmm... let me think... oh they probably wouldn't.

What companies and brands need to figure out is how they are going to use social media to add value to peoples social interactions. Broadcasting updates about your brand does not add value, if it isn't going to make someones day better then forget it.

How Do You Add Value?

The most common and effective ways to add value through social media is through the following approaches:

• Listening to what people are already saying
• Talking with people about their likes, dislikes, suggestions, etc...
• Helping build energy and excitement about your product or service
• Helping users embrace their use of your product or service
• Supporting consumers with their troubles (or facilitating other consumers to support each other)

Listening

You know how everyone says that the most important part of communication is listening? Guess what, that is the case with online communication as well. You know what, it also is one of the most important part of marketing in general. Don't believe me? If you don't listen to your market to find out what they want and what they need you will simply create products and services that nobody wants. Congratulations, your business is going to fail!

Listening is probably the easiest and best place to start with social media. If nothing else just pay attention to what people are saying on twitter, facebook, youtube, etc... you will get a lot of valuable insight on how you could improve.

Talking

Ah talking, everyone likes to talk about themselves and with brands that doesn't seem to be any different. The problem is that your consumers don't want to talk to you about you, they want to talk to you about them. It's a subtle but important difference. When a brand gets to the point that they are responding and talking with consumers it is important to listen first, respond second. Only contact consumers when you can offer some value, otherwise don't bother them.

Build Energy

Building energy takes a lot more effort and creativity to do properly. The idea is to provide a valuable game, take away, contest, that gets people excited about your product (or release). Some good examples would be the MadMen Yourself campaign, the IKEA furniture giveaway or <add one more>. All of these examples were a fun, engaging and value added way to get people excited about the brands.

Embracing

Campaigns that help users embrace your brand can often build excitement and energy as well, however the approach is often different. With embracing you are really looking to create tools, opportunities and services that enhance how a consumer interacts with your product or service. It could be a way to TIVO new shows based on friends recommendations, or potentially giving users the ability to store or share usage information to facebook or other networks.

Supporting

Supporting is another area in which social media has been used effectively in a lot of diverse situations. When someone is frustrated enough with a product or service that they become vocal through a network they have the potential to influence a large portion of their network. However what they are really expressing is a desire to have their problem solved. By solving the problem you can change their negative opinion and have a high likelihood of converting them into enthusiasts.

Another great example would be the use of a site like Navy For Moms in which it is a venue for users to support each other. This site has been extremely effective, partially because the support and feedback didn't come from the organization (in this case, the Navy). By encouraging enthusiasts to participate on a site like this they can help answer questions in an true and honest manor, which is much more likely to be taken seriously as there are little to no ulterior motives.

Stick To Adding Value

If you look at classic examples of failed social media campaigns you will find that there is no value to be found. Despite the fact that it should be the first thing to consider many campaigns ignore it all together.

For example the classic "What would you do for a Whopper" campaign in which Burgerking would award anyone who unfriended 10 people on facebook with a free Whopper. This unfriending was of course published to your feed for everyone to see, including your friends who were snubbed because you wanted to save $3. This means that you valued each person you unfriended at less than 30 cents.

This campaign failed because it actually removed value from peoples social interactions. The participation was poor at best and it is a classic case of anti-social media.

The skittles homepage is another classic "no value failed campaign." Skittles thought that their new homepage would be best represented by displaying a list of the most recent tweets that mention skittles. Ask yourself all you want, "How did this add value?" and you will not be able to find anything significant. It simply was a mirror of what was already going on. As a result twitter users caught on and tweeted creative ideas such as "skittles are made from people" and "skittles cause cancer." Probably not what skittles had in mind when they came up with the concept.

So core take away is that you need to add value with your social media campaign or don't use social media at all. There are a lot of companies and brands where it simply doesn't make sense to do anything but listen. If you can find a way to add value through talking, embracing, energizing or supporting then build from there.

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