A Chief Marketing Officer's Guide to Social Media Integration
Attention CMO's!
It's time to rethink social media. Particularly how you approach and implement strategies and tactics. If 2010 was the year of fighting over where social media falls within your organization, and 2011 has mostly consisted of making the decision, determining ownership and adjusting internal structure accordingly, then 2012 needs to be the year to define it's purpose and start measuring results, so that it makes good business sense.
This is going to take a serious mind-shift, and the operative word here is integration. One-off campaigns that have no connection to company goals are a big mistake. They may be cool and interesting and even fun, but how much cooler would they be if they were aligned with your overall company goals and objectives and allowed you to move the needle in a big way?
That's where you need to be going with all this and it will require a shift in the way you think. Your mantra should be this: Everything you do in the social media space will be tied directly to company goals and objectives. Period!
Once social media is totally integrated into your communications and marketing efforts, it will be in alignment with your goals. Perhaps this is easier said than done, so I am going to give you four jumping off points to get you started, or at least thinking differently.
- Incorporate social media into all of your communications plans. Remember, social media is communications. And your target audiences are out there seeking information. You need a plan for how you will communicate with them where they congregate online.
- Adjust your existing media lists to include Facebook and Twitter accounts of your target reporters and bloggers. It is sometimes easier to connect with journalists through social media. A quick DM on Twitter or post on their Facebook page can get you a faster response than sending an e-mail. And in case you didn't know, 92% of B2B journalists have a LinkedIn account and 84% use Twitter. They are using these tools to find sources and story ideas.
- Remember that YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. People are searching heavily on YouTube. What will they find when they type in the name of your company? What about the keywords you're competing on in Google?Figure this out and make it part of your communications plan, Hint: Invest in a Flipcam.
- Do not jump on the bandwagon of each shiny new tool until you have used it and figured out how it can help you meet your goals. (Think Google Plus.) It's better to spend the time upfront or wait until someone you trust (like an agency partner) makes recommendations on how the tool can help you meet your goals. Maybe it can, maybe it can't. But don't waste time getting involved without a clear plan of action.
- Realize that blogger outreach isn't always earned media. Jason Falls of Social Media explorer wrote an interesting piece about this and I agree with much of his assessment. My thoughts are you need to reevaluate how you approach bloggers and if the return on investment is worth it. If you want to do this, you may need a budget for it. This will vary by industry and to do this you have to do more than extract a list from your PR or social media tools. Just because Brand X has a great return on blogger outreach does not guarantee that you will see the same results.
These are just a few key points to consider. As a CMO, Director of Marketing or Marketing Manager, you have to consider your plan of attack and think smart. After all, if you're going to increase your spend, you want it to be money well-spent. There is real strategy behind all of this and that is what we provide our clients.
Author's note: You can read more on the CMO survey conducted by the Duke Fuqua School Business, here. Detailed results can be found at cmosurvey.org/results.
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