Getting Social Media Marketing Out of the Petri Dish

Social media marketing too often finds itself stuck in a silo. The question of ‘who owns social’ has led it to be relegated to internal experts and/or small teams. That’s understandable because that’s often where social media marketing has to get its start within an organization, but that should be by no means where it stays.

The Social Petri Dish

One of the biggest issues that putting social media into a silo is that it leads to isolated results. Marketers demand results and find it frustrating when social media results appear unintegrated. What else did we expect?

Real success comes when social media is part of the larger marketing plan and tied back to overarching business objectives, not just the number of followers or views. Those may serve as KPIs, but the overarching objectives for social media should tie back to business objectives. Get social media out of the Petri dish and see a real impact on business.

Marketers can start by:

• Improving customer service by integrating social channels into their existing approaches to customer service and see customer satisfaction improve and a cost savings from making customer service more efficient.
• Encouraging referrals and driving trial by offering an incentive that gets better each time it’s shared with someone else.
• Generating earned impressions to support a campaign by working with online influencers and giving them the reasons and means to share brand efforts.
• Gaining additional consumer insights by forming an online, social media focus group of passionate advocates who offer advice and insights for new products and services.

These are just a start, but each of them will only be stronger when they break free from the Petri dish and are both supporting and being supported by other marketing initiatives. Social media shouldn’t be forced to stand on its own. Just like other marketing channels, it’s stronger when it’s working with other parts of the overall plan. That’s where integrated execution delivers on overarching business objectives, and that’s the secret to taking social media marketing to the next level.

Integration Only Happens When We Push.

It’s on us as social media marketers to tell others within the organization how social can help them, not vice versa. We can’t expect colleagues to come to us. Instead, we’ll be more integrated when we make it a point to visit others at their desks and ask them what they’re up to and what their challenges are. That allows us to opportunity-spot and offer ways social media can make everyone’s job easier and more successful.

It’s on us to prove the value of social media marketing, so don’t hesitate to reach out and not just tell how social media can support the business but show it, too.

Sacrificing Success for the Hot and Sexy

Social media is the tempting seductress of the marketing world. It's fairly new and exciting, and it has many marketers drooling. They see others out on the town with her and seeing their success in the form of consumer activity and industry recognition. It's certainly an exciting time to be a marketer. 

If all the tools at a brand's disposal were at a bar, social media would be the attractive woman (or man) at the bar that you have to buy a drink for. She's a bit of a mystery, but you know she's what you're looking for. For some marketers, it's a match made in heaven right off the bat, but for others, lust leads to failure because they move too fast.

The Danger of Being Seduced

There is a big danger in being seduced by the tempting promises of social media. Going after the hot and sexy platforms and tactics before your business is ready will always lead to a broken heart.

Before hopping into bed or even planning a wedding, you have to ask yourself if your business is really ready for the commitment. All the stakeholders, key players and organizational challenges need to be identified and addressed first.

Groundwork needs to be set, and everyone needs to be aligned on the reasons why a business is entering the social media space. You need to know what you want to do and how you're going to measure your efforts.

Taking the leap into social media because everyone's doing it and because it's hot and sexy is the mark of death. The level of preparation needed will be unique depending upon the business, but every organization requires some level of prep work. You will, maybe not right away, find yourself down the social media road only to discover that you need to stop in your tracks and potentially move backwards if the prep work isn't done.

Be Honest About Your Organization

It's really easy to look at all that is out there, and say, "I want that and that and that," but you need to look at your organization first. Where are the roadblocks (e.g, Legal, IT, company leadership, HR, etc.)? How is your business organized (e.g., Approval processes, committee organization, etc.)? Are you ready to be nimble, open and more transparent?

Businesses are unique. Some will require much more prep work than others, but it is absolutely essential to audit your business and be honest about what your business can and should do right away and what should be slated for sometime down the road. It may not be the most exciting thing in the world, but laying that initial groundwork will ensure that success won't elude you once you're ready for that first date.

Old Spice's Social Campaign Secured the :30 Spot

Two weeks ago the blogosphere, Twitterverse, YouTube-ville and Internet was abuzz about a long-forgotten, old brand, Old Spice. The campaign that began with a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl hit a crescendo with a real-time social media campaign that involved the Old Spice Man responding to queries from social media users through YouTube videos.

What Traditional Media Did…

Social media is what put Old Spice in the news, but the campaign would have fallen flat without mass media efforts planting the seeds for success.

The television commercials introduced consumers to the Old Spice Man, Mustafa. The character tied back to the Old Spice brand and used a combination of humor and good looks to appeal to men and women alike. People liked him when they saw the commercials, and they loved the idea of being able to interact with him.

How Social Media Made the Campaign Work Harder

Old Spice took the groundwork laid by traditional media and made it take a life of its own online using several strong tactics:

• Craft an inviting invitation. “Today could be just like the other 364 days you log into Twitter, or maybe the Old Spice Man shows up @Old Spice.” This mysterious invitation had a strong call-to-action to interact with The Old Spice man himself. Ask people to participate and some will. If they like it enough, they’ll share it.

• Involve those who count. Not everyone online is of “equal value,” so Old Spice reached out to those who had the most influence. With messages directed to Kevin Rose, Alyssa Milano and other celebrities, Old Spice got the online influencers talking. Targeting those most likely to influence the thoughts and actions of others is key to social marketing. Identifying and reaching out to online influencers with a compelling message will get them talking, which will, in turn, get their followers talking as well.

• Make it matter to the individual. Social media let Old Spice do something the TV commercials couldn’t, personalize the message. It wouldn’t have been nearly as compelling without the personalization. Social media marketing should be personalized. Making people feel special and recognized makes them more receptive to your message and makes others want to be connected with you as well. You may not respond to everyone, but the possibility that you will has a powerful effect.

• Brevity matters. The Old Spice videos were short, sweet and consistent. The fact that everything was short made it easier to watch, not once but multiple times. Attention spans are short, but keeping your message concise will make it more engaging and more likely to be consumed.

• Make sharing easy. Old Spice used already established platforms with huge user bases, allowing people to easily consume and share the videos. Using already built platforms instead of crating a new one allowed for familiar rules and settings, making sharing simple. It is necessary to make sharing painless, and it never hurts to invite consumers to do so. Leveraging platforms that people are already used to also helps because they don’t have to learn something before engaging. The engagement starts right away.

Social Media and Traditional Media Can and Should Work Together.

Old Spice did a lot of things with their campaign, but most important for marketers, they showed that traditional and social media work best when they work together. Traditional media can effectively lay the groundwork, but social media can take it to a level with more engagement and a greater level of influence than ever.