5 Ways To Make Social Media A Part of Everyday Business Strategy
Written by Derek Edmond on January 8th, 2008Even though social media is a hot topic, intelligent marketers are asking the question about social media’s value in comparison to their other online marketing endeavors. If you’re following the buzz, you’re already understanding the fact that success in social media is not as easy as initially perceived; it takes time, strategy and commitment. Your time investment in developing networks in social media communities and content for these networks has to be measured against your time requirements elsewhere.
If you are concerned with immediate ROI and definitively “track-able” results, this presents a quandary of sorts. How can you justify hours of social media brand building with the expectation that at some point, it’s going to generate measurable traffic and inbound links?
The “SEO value proposition” of social media is that you get your message out to communities and individuals entrenched in an innovative online environment. You become a part of the community which understands online relationships; and that community brings forth new connections, networks and inbound link opportunities.
Here are 5 ideas that you can use to begin building your social media strategy, without getting yourself in overboard or sacrificing too much of your time upfront. Be warned! Because once you start getting involved and seeing some successes, you may just start realizing that there is a value in social media after all.
1.) Dedicate a 15 Minutes Each Day
In the end, you must make social media a priority and not just a task. Otherwise, it sits on the shelf with personnel reports and compliance checklists. Here are some ideas for your 15 social media minutes for the first couple weeks:
- Day 1: Take a look at one of these popular lists of social media and web 2.0 sites and identify a couple places of interest.
- Day 2 - 7: Read one or two social media articles just to get up to speed with what has been going on in the space.
- Day 8 - 14: Spend your 15 minutes simply surfing the few places you identified on Day 1 in order to get a feel for the particular site. Make sure to read the about pages, terms of service and other supporting details just to make certain you agree with everything. If it turns out you don’t really like the site, go back to the lists from Day 1 and select some other place to go.
- Day 15 and on: If you haven’t done so already, create a profile on that social media site and start contributing. The next 4 ideas help make this a more effective and productive experience.
2.) Apply Social Media to Your Personal Interests
Just because a social media site seems popular doesn’t mean it’s going to work well for you and your business. It’s easier to get involved in social media sites if you actually like what you are doing.
- Dig Digg because of the topical news and information it provides.
- If you’re a video fan, create a profile in YouTube and start “favorite”-ing videos you enjoy watching.
- Social Media sites like Webshots, Mixx and (of course) Flickr are great for people who enjoy images and photography.
3.) Apply Social Media to Your Personal Behavior
Not only should you consider your own interests, but also consider how social media can be a part of your workday routines, without being intrusive to those routines.
- If you’re addicted to your Treo, Blackberry or text messaging, start thinking about how Twitter could be a part of your routine.
- Instead of getting all of your early morning news from CNN or Fox, take a look at what the popular news is in places like Digg or Propeller.
- If surfing the web via Google is a favorite activity when time is available, download the StumbleUpon toolbar to tailor your surfing interests in a way that gives you random results based on topics you know you already enjoy.
4.) Set Small Goals First
Driving thousands of visitors and hundreds of links via social media sites should not be the only goal you’ve scoped for social media success. Set personal goals designed to make sure you use your time effectively and efficiently when initially getting active in each community. Some suggestions may be:
- Vote for 5 stories you enjoy and provide a comment on one of those stories per day
- Locating 1 person with similar interests to network with in your applicable social media websites
- Answering 2 questions on Yahoo Answers or LinkedIn each day
5.) Celebrate & Evangelize Your Successes
Each time you send traffic to your website, obtain that inbound link or gain that respected connection, share that success story with your colleagues and co-workers. If you’re lucky, you’ll find that success is contagious and other people in your “offline” world may want to try figure this social media thing out as well. Do your part to help those people understand how they can also contribute to your new social media network.
In summary, it’s not easy to get into the habit of “social media”. While the end goal can be understood, the intermediary steps often become unclear and overburdening. Setting progressive milestones and tailoring social media towards your own interests and behavior helps make the creation of this strategy a reality. Even though you must make some time for social media, celebrating the little successes often provides enough support for continuing your efforts and bringing others into the mix.
What are your thoughts on how to make social media a part of your everyday business strategy? We would love to hear your comments and suggestions as well as success stories related to your own social media endeavors.
[...] 5 Ways To Make Social Media A Part of Everyday Business Strategy - KoMarketing Associates (tags: socialmedia marketing business strategy) [...]
January 8th, 2008 at 9:22 pm[...] post by Search Marketing Blog - KoMarketing Associates Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and [...]
January 9th, 2008 at 1:47 pm[...] best strategy depends on your product, target audience and available resources. Here’s a a blog post that gives some great advice on how to get started. Begin by reading Seth Godin’s latest work, [...]
January 10th, 2008 at 12:31 amExcellent, excellent Tips!!
Social Media is still very scary for many people. Not to mention time consuming. You have put together 5 really great tips to make it much easier and less frightening.
Shana
January 10th, 2008 at 11:20 am[...] 5 Ways To Make Social Media A Part of Everyday Business Strategy [...]
January 10th, 2008 at 11:42 amThank you for the comment Shana, it is appreciated. Just like a lot of things, it can seem overwhelming at first, but small steps and practical application can often lead to bigger things you don’t even realize!
January 10th, 2008 at 3:01 pmGreat advice.
Very practical. Came here from Sphinn. Glad I did.
Thanks!
January 10th, 2008 at 11:40 pm@Mark - I am glad you found us on Sphinn and appreciate the comment. Sphinn is a great community.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:40 pm[...] 5 Ways To Make Social Media A Part of Everyday Business Strategy Here are 5 ideas that you can use to begin building your social media strategy, without getting yourself in overboard or sacrificing too much of your time upfront. Be warned! Because once you start getting involved and seeing some successes, you may just (tags: Business community Marketing strategy) [...]
January 11th, 2008 at 9:29 pmDerek, what an awesome how-to list. Going to print this out and pin it up to the wall as a constant reminder. I am always encouraging our employees to utilize social media as a part of their day to day work - and this provides a great break down of exactly how to do that. Thanks again!
January 12th, 2008 at 9:25 pm[...] 5 Ways To Make Social Media A Part of Everyday Business Strategy: Derek Edmond talks about how social media can be integrated into your daily life. I like the focus on doing little things everyday in order to establish consistency. Here are 5 ideas that you can use to begin building your social media strategy, without getting yourself in overboard or sacrificing too much of your time upfront. Be warned! Because once you start getting involved and seeing some successes, you may just start realizing that there is a value in social media after all. [...]
January 13th, 2008 at 6:35 pm[...] 5 Ways To Make Social Media A Part of Everyday Business Strategy: Derek Edmond talks about how social media can be integrated into your daily life. I like the focus on doing little things everyday in order to establish consistency. Here are 5 ideas that you can use to begin building your social media strategy, without getting yourself in overboard or sacrificing too much of your time upfront. Be warned! Because once you start getting involved and seeing some successes, you may just start realizing that there is a value in social media after all. [...]
January 14th, 2008 at 4:47 amMartin - I am really glad you found the ideas of value in this post. It’s definitely a challenge to get others involved and excited in the same way you (or I or anyone) can be. Please feel free to send me a message if you ever want to to bounce ideas back and forth.
January 14th, 2008 at 5:39 pm[...] 5 Ways To Make Social Media A Part of Everyday Business Strategy: Derek Edmond talks about how social media can be integrated into your daily life. I like the focus on doing little things everyday in order to establish consistency. Here are 5 ideas that you can use to begin building your social media strategy, without getting yourself in overboard or sacrificing too much of your time upfront. Be warned! Because once you start getting involved and seeing some successes, you may just start realizing that there is a value in social media after all. [...]
January 15th, 2008 at 4:17 pm[...] http://www.komarketingassociates.com/blog/5-ways-to-make-social-media-a-part-of-everyday-business-st... [...]
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:29 pmNice article - I was thinking along the same lines myself - developing a daily routine doing the rounds of the web 2.0 sites : )
January 26th, 2008 at 8:38 amoften times, starting a social networking profile can serve as the “beginning & end” for user activity. even though the ROI has yet to be fully established, the ability to create “buzz” amongst various networking circles, continues to forge other connections that could not have formed without your “facebook” profile.
good post on establishing networking practices.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:53 am[...] 5 Ways To Make Social Media A Part of Everyday Business Strategy [...]
March 13th, 2008 at 12:01 am[...] 5 Ways To Make Social Media A Part of Everyday Business Strategy: Derek Edmond talks about how social media can be integrated into your daily life. I like the focus on doing little things everyday in order to establish consistency. Here are 5 ideas that you can use to begin building your social media strategy, without getting yourself in overboard or sacrificing too much of your time upfront. Be warned! Because once you start getting involved and seeing some successes, you may just start realizing that there is a value in social media after all. [...]
May 27th, 2008 at 6:27 pm[...] 5 Ways To Make Social Media A Part of Everyday Business Strategy Tags: Search & Marketing Posted in Search & Marketing Leave a comment or trackback from your own site. Follow responses to this entry through the RSS feed. [...]
June 11th, 2008 at 8:02 pm