A week and a half ago, Jacque and I attended Social Media Conference Northwest here in Mount Vernon. We met folks from across Washington and beyond, and saw some pretty amazing speakers. Most notably were the keynotes James Burnes and Brad Nelson. Throughout the conference, a few items were emphasized again and again. Below, I’ve listed five I found most important for businesses as social media continues to grow. In many ways, these five were instrumental in our development of the bqFILTER process we launched a few months back.
1. Know your customer
We’ve said this before, several times. Know who they are, where they participate online, and how they participate online. The better you know your customer, the better you can engage them.
2. Be a user
While not mandatory, it definitely helps to know the tools you use. If you’re unfamiliar with a tool like Facebook, Twitter, or Yelp, utilizing an agency like BrandQuery can help teach you the tools and how best to utilize them in reaching your audience. This was also emphasized over and over during the HIVE.mobile AIGA event on mobile marketing and design that Derek and I attended in early March.
3. At the very minimum, listen
Like it or not, people are talking about you. Word of mouth has always been a one-on-one process, but with the boom of emerging media and social networking, this is no longer the case. Now it’s public, meaning you need to know what people are saying. With the growing presence of review and location-based sites like Yelp, Foursquare and even Angie’s List, social monitoring has never been more important.
4. Strategize before you start
If you’re going to get involved, you need a strategy. Your strategy should surround both #1 and #2 on this list, and it should also include a contingency or process if something negative crops up during #3. Having a well-defined, WRITTEN strategy is important in ensuring employees know what is and is not appropriate.
5. Monitor, review, revise
Monitor your strategy to ensure it is moving forward as it should. Creating metrics and goals, and regularly reviewing the tactics to reach these goals will help you on your way to being successful in the social space. At the conference, they recommended reviewing your strategy once a quarter. It is also important to revise the strategy and its goals when necessary. Emerging media is constantly changing, and your strategy and tactics should be nimble enough to account for this change.
