Two New Catch Phrases "Strategy" & "Social"
posted on 2/25/2010
The new catch phrase for the next decade should be "Strategy" I've heard this word thrown around all over the place from car addies to dish washing liquid commercials.
So what is strategy? Many people when they speak about strategy get it a little wrong. Strategy is not how you do something but how you are going to do something. It's a plan pure and simple.
So why strategy? Why has this word been so hyped lately by agencies? Probably because it seems like the latest thing...
Speaking of the latest thing. The next word on my shit list of overly used words is "Social". This word gets so far under my skin as if the act of being social is something new. Welp just like fashion I can assure you that there is nothing new under the sun. Being social is just that. Becoming friends with lots of people that share your common interests.
And just like strategy people like to thrown the name around but still really have no clue how to go about it, what it really means, or how to use it.
I can't count how many times in the past couple of weeks I have seen both of these two new fangled words used in the complete wrong context, or I hear it thrown around and I ask a few questions just to hear "Well we'd like to use it, but not really sure how in a business context".... I usually smirk when this comes out... It's what I have been waiting for. Then I start to ask questions... They sound something like this..
1. Tell me what communities you are looking at?
2. (after I get the answer) Ok, so tell me why you want to use those communities?
3. " * " How much time have you devoted to feeding those communities?
4. What type of information will you be feeding those communities?
5. Do you have a plan for responding and tracking?
Hmmm... Well it seems that when asked these questions there really isn't much on the minds of the person who just has to be "Social" so maybe they should think of a Social Strategy.... "Like how I put those two together"
Have a plan... a "Social Strategy" as you will. There are a number of communities out there and each performs pretty much the same function, but are used in different ways. Here's an example of a recent Social Strategy that we created for one of our clients.... Now keep in mind this numbered list is not an actual strategy it's the tactical execution of a strategy. Our social strategy is to utilize social networking sites to further the brands reach and to create a mechanism to educate people about the company and what it does.
We have two focuses internal and external that create a cyclical online experience.
Internal Social Strategy
1. Blogging - or what we like to call it Scratching
2. News & PR
3. Feedback Forms
4. White Papers - Case Studies
5. Multi-media
6. Takeaways
Now each of the above provide one form or another for interaction. We have three categories Connect - Experience - Contribute. In addition each one of the above feed the various social communities while at the same time drawing people back to the Web site.
External Social Strategy
1. Twitter - Scratch pad posts are added here with a link to the entire story on the site
2. Facebook - Industry News & PR Product and Services updates
3. Linkedin - Executive Connection - Links to twitter, and Slideshare
4. YouTube - Training and promotional videos and flash promo's interviews
4. Flickr - Culture Creation.... Posts images of events etc.
5. Slideshare - Illustrated slideshows of the scratchpad topics
6. Delicious - Links to all articles and blogs that we have participated in or industry news
7. DIGG - Articles that we find that support our cause
Each of the above is used in some way to bring people back to the site or make them more aware about what it is that the company does. In addition it provides more areas around the web where the name of the company, it's brand, and objectives can reside. This gives us more google juice and allows us to reach higher search engine rankings naturally.
So you see there is a reason for everything. Your company doesn't need to be everything at once. Simple utilize the right tools for the job... but figure out what the job is and then make a plan. Without one you will not have the results that you want to achieve... you can also give us a call we kinda know what we are doing in this department and can make you so successful you won't know what to do with yourself.
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