How Brands Should Prepare for the Social Web
Developing an online branding strategy is critical for today’s business, and the many businesses looking to get involved in social media should note that not every instance is right for your business. For example, should a funeral home use Twitter? Probably not, and although that example is obvious, there are dozens of other industries that are less obvious in which people still insist on trying to make social media into something it isn’t – an advertising channel. There are car salesmen out there trying to drum up leads via twitter, credit unions looking to get on Facebook, and much more.
A large part of this interest would have to do with the large influx of speakers and articles saying that social media is something everyone needs to be doing. To extent, that would be true. The best way to determine if its true might be to figure out if anyone is talking about you, and what you might actually say if you started using social media. Remember – its not about advertising!
It’s been said before – advertising is dead. Or on life support anyways. It took a few years, but consumers no longer trust the claims from many brands.
So what should a business do to execute their social media strategy? Figure out what makes sense for your line of business. Should you be blogging? Video marketing? Or maybe Twitter or Facebook is all you need. Maybe start a group on Ning? What other options do I have?
There’s forums, blogs, video, wikis, podcasts, and more. It’s about the interactions between people. Chances are there might be a conversation about your brand already. If you’re going to become involved with social media try to find that conversation and be available to engage with customers.
Approach things by looking at what’s already happening within the social media to decide if and where you belong. Twitter isn’t for everyone. But if you are a brand that has a following it might make sense to be involved.
As you evaluate your options you should note that it really takes a dedicated person to effectively manage these new channels. And for some social media options that you’re not sure whether to use or not, it’s still a real estate grab for many of them. Consider signing up with some of the bigger social media sites and stake your claim by way of preferred username.
And sometimes, its up to you to build that community and social network. Again, it’s all depending on your business model. Dell uses Twitter to communicate by announcing deals, and created IdeaStorm as an online suggestion box to listen to their customers.
