Sometimes it’s worthwhile to take a step back and re-examine our online strategy. Do you have a Web site you’re proud of? Do you really know why you’re tweeting? Is someone in your organization heading the social media charge?
If you don’t know the answers to these questions, it is high time to take that step back and look at your company’s strategy, advised James Burnes, founder of Project Brilliant and a speaker at last week’s Social Media Conference NW.
Burnes noted that many companies are either entering the social media milieu as an experiment or without a solid strategy – or both.
“We are fighting against everyone to understand how social media fits into our company,” he said.
Instead, he suggests pulling the entire team together to create a strategy that gets everyone moving in the same direction.
Here are his nine tips in developing a strategy:
- What are your goals? Make them measurable.
- Who is your audience? Each audience has a different need.
- Understand your audience’s segmentation. Each audience has segments with their own needs and personality.
- What does your audience want?
- Where do they go (online)? This will help you define what social media spaces to inhabit.
- Who is your talent? Identify the person(s) who will champion social media. Start with the executive team.
- What are your milestones or key activities? Here’s where you can start to develop tactics that leverage social media to promote your business.
- How will mobile accessibility to social media impact your business? Keep in mind that it’s predicted more than half the cellular phones sold in 2011 will be smartphones.
- Do you need your own social media platform? This won’t be the case for every business, but if a community doesn’t exist around your industry you may consider creating your own.
Once this strategy is in place, treat it as a living document likely to require revision. Schedule reviews to make sure you’re staying on course.