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It’s pretty rare to find an album that’s a complete body of work where every song is great from front to back; albums like Revolver (Beatles), Road to Ensenada (Lyle Lovett), Grace (Jeff Buckley)… insert your favorite album here. When you do, you keep coming back and never forget it. I’ve revisited several of my favorite complete albums over the last week or so leading up to Austin City Limits Music Festival …getting me in the spirit. It occurred to me that a well executed social marketing program is in many ways similar to a great album. Think of all the different marketing channels as tracks and the entire program as the album.
While researching a variety of companies’ social media marketing initiatives recently I struggled to find examples of a complete body of work. Many of them had a couple good tracks but failed to deliver a great social marketing album from front to back. Why? I’m guessing it’s because their social marketing efforts aren’t yet taken seriously by their marketing leadership. It’s also possible their social media program is being run by an experimental group that’s not well integrated with the overall marketing strategy. Either way, simply having a good track does not make a great album. Not having a great album makes for a poor brand experience and a huge missed opportunity on driving real business value.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when building a Social Marketing program:
- All are not equal. Some brands are better suited for Facebook and Twitter than others. Given the enormous popularity of social networks it’s very likely your customers are there. However, if people aren’t passionate about your brand or a lifestyle associated with your brand it is not likely they’ll be interested in participating in a dialogue with you. Social networks probably won’t fix that.
- Work the room…well. Understand the etiquette for each social media. Tip: Sending out 10 tweets in 2 minutes will probably irritate your followers. It’s very important that the folks running your communication on social networks be proficient individual users who understand how to use the medium appropriately.
- Be consistent, relevant and interesting. Keep in mind, you’re developing relationships here, not bombarding a faceless mass and hoping to catch a few eyes.
- Communicate as a human, not a company. Social media gives your company a great opportunity to humanize your brand. Consumers develop real relationships with people. Make sure it’s authentic.
- “Let’s go back to my place.” Invite your fans and followers back to your site. This is where real engagement, measurement and business value takes place. (All kinds of juvenile joke possibilities with this one.)
- All killer, no filler. Focus on making every track great with the album in mind. Make sure all your marketing efforts (social networks, branded community, advertising etc.) have a consistent brand look and feel and are done well individually with the overall program in mind.
Which brands do you think have built a great social marketing album?
Aaron Strout's bio
As the head of marketing at Powered, Aaron focuses not only on day to day marketing activities but also provides a social voice for the company. In this role, Aaron continues with his speaking, blogging, podcasting and social networking activities with an eye toward creating awareness and lead generation for the company. Prior to joining Powered, Aaron was the Vice President of Social Media at Mzinga, a Burlington, Massachusetts-based provider of online communities and social networks for businesses. In this role, Aaron focused on tapping into the power of social media for business. In addition to his knowledge of the interactive and new media landscape, Aaron has more than 15 years of online marketing and advertising experience, with a strong background in integrated and online marketing. Before joining Mzinga, Aaron worked at Fidelity Investments in their retail division, with a focus on online and acquisition marketing. Aaron's work at Fidelity revolved around Web strategy & marketing, as well as the development of interactive and print campaigns, including direct mail, e-mail, banner & print ads, and event marketing. Aaron is a founding member and former president of (BIMA) and a member and former board member of the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX). Aaron was also recently elected an interim board member for the prestigious Social Media Club. He will be part of a team responsible for creating standards around social media and community.
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