Social Media Stuff

Social media strategy: This is where the true candy is


Now that most of us, at least in this tiny corner, seem in agreement that social media is not a strategy, but a channel, a medium, a toolset, let’s do some more thinking/talking about the process of actually articulating said strategy.


I’m one of those people that is perpetually asking “what’s the strategy?” for any tactic, no matter how small. (Really? You want to paint your room green? What’s your strategy for that?) But social media is such a unique animal, that in this case, I can really see why strategy becomes challenging.

First, sometimes when you put social media strategies on paper, they seem so remedial and obvious, at least to those of us who do this every day: Listen and respond. Take a thought leadership position. Facilitate conversation and sharing between your customers and prospective customers. Etcetera etcetera.  Sometimes, I like to draw the plan, instead of writing it, just to make it less boring. In a brief twitter exchange with @armano recently there was talk about how social media is like a game of Life (his idea) or CandyLand. And while the tactics may seem like the candy – they are not. Really, the strategy is where the tasty, juicy stuff lies. (We’ll talk about some specific examples in future posts.)

When it comes to putting the tactics on paper, it gets even weirder. This, obviously, is quite unlike traditional media planning. Ain’t no flowcharts here showing you how many Facebook posts, tweets, video views you’re getting this month. No sir or madam. We can give you content guidelines and ideas, but that’s where it stops. After that, you have to trust us.

@teecycletim, social communications guy extraordinaire, posed this great question on my previous post: “Should someone create a separate social media strategy at all, or is that just part of a larger brand strategy?” My initial answer was the time-honored hedge, “it depends”. For some brands, social media is so integral to what their social business and brand is that it could be an effortless extension of their brand strategy. Like Threadless, which exists to be an “amazing community of talented artists”. That brand idea that is at their core is organically extended into social media tactics. Most brands, though, stand for something other than “community.” So a social media strategy (or strategies) needs to be defined that articulates how social media fits into the overall marketing strategy and brand strategy. But it’s still not “separate” – it flows from the rest of the marketing/brand plan.


In keeping with the “not the smartest person in the room” vibe of this blog, rather than me continue pontificating on this question, I’m more curious what you think about these questions from your experience: How do you like to express your social media strategy/strategies? What specific challenges have you encountered with that planning process? If you’re a brand-side person, what do you expect from a social media plan, and how is it most useful for you have it expressed? Do you agree that there needs to be a distinct social media strategy articulated, or do you consider it a subset of your larger business/brand/marketing/communications strategy?

No, social media is not a strategy

Social media is NOT a strategy. It never has been. It never will be. Any more than broadcast is a strategy, or print is a strategy, or chartreuse sidewalk chalk written upside down in Portuguese is a strategy. Seth Godin nailed it in his recent post When tactics drown out strategy: “Building a permission asset so we can grow our influence with our best customers over time” is a strategy. Using email, twitter or RSS along with newsletters, contests and a human voice are all tactics.“
It might also help to think about it this way (credit to Denise Kohnke at Laughlin Constable for this metaphor): A goal is quantifiable. An objective is what you plan to accomplish…the top of the mountain. A strategy is the road you are planning to take to get there. And a tactic is simply the vehicle on the road, be it social media tools or any other toolset.

Last week, that there was quite the robust discussion happening at Shannon Paul’s blog about “Is social media is a strategy or a tactic?” But if I am deeply honest, I have to admit that I also find it somewhat surprising that a group of such highly regarded professionals would feel the need to debate this question quite so ad nauseum in the first place.

Now, don’t misconstrue that remark. I’m not saying it out of arrogance. I still know I am not the smartest person in the room. It’s not that I don’t think this group of really smart folks understands strategy. I suspect they do. And I’m all in favor of open and candid debate, and people having the resources to get their questions answered. But here in the fishbowl, there is a tendency to analyze everything past the point of slow, painful death. 30 comments later –  has the definition of a strategy and a tactic changed? No. As Beth Harte astutely points out in her comments on Shannon’s blog, strategy vs. tactic is not a negotiable construct. It’s a timeless and permanent one.

Mind you this is not to say that you don’t NEED a social media strategy, but social media itself is the car, not the road.

To be continued…

Four strategies to overcome sociomediaphobia


Sociomediaphobia (noun): fear and loathing triggered by the mere notion of conversational engagement with customers and prospects.

Why are so many clients so afraid of social media? It can be perplexing, when it’s so easy for “us” to see the opportunity, and it’s not so easy to persuade “them” to see the light.
Case in point. There’s a brand that I desperately want to work with and know with 100% certainty that we could create amazing results with. In spite of doing relatively little marketing communication, this brand has numerous, hungry fans who, like me, are begging for them to create a community online. The fans have created a Facebook page where they are literally asking for the brand to engage, and a fake Twitter account on behalf of the brand. It is also a brand with stories that are so rich that they would make you drool. Yet, the brand’s response when I proposed actively participating in social media was something to the effect of: “Yes, we know. Maybe later.”

Trying to put myself in the client’s shoes – part of the purpose of this blog – I think back to the time before I was personally engaged online. I suppose it was one part fear of the unknown, and one part not knowing where to start climbing the enormous mountain of information. So I dove in head first, and it has become the most fun I have had in my 20 years in this business.
Here are a few “blocking and tackling” strategies to overcome this fear and help move people who would really benefit from a social media strategy along the curve a little bit faster:
1. Educate in a way that whets the appetite. In addition to “the presentation” and “the demonstration” serve up “appetizers” in the form of great stories on a regular basis (sans stalking, and assuming there is at list some marginal interest). Unearthing a relevant research study in the client’s specific category with real quantitative data on what similar or competitive brands are doing in social media helps, when possible. Third party endorsements are always good, so I’m going to see if I can get this particular client to attend a social media conference with me. Data creates confidence, whereas anecdotal evidence of “coolness” perpetuates doubt. Of course, the data doesn’t exist for everything yet, which will remain part of the challenge for a while. So if you can’t find it, just tell them that the Pope is using Facebook now, and that should win them over for sure.
2. Speak their language – not “ours”. It is essential to use simple, accessible language and keep the lingo to a reasonable level. Resist the powerful urge to tell them how cool hashtags are three minutes into the conversation. Remember that not everyone is as much of a geek as you are. Let’s face it – those of us who live and breathe and love social media tend to use language that makes even others in the profession glaze over. A very intelligent coworker has pointed out to me that I sometimes speak “in code”. This is a difficult thing to keep top of mind and even harder to change, and I think regular Twitter use actually exacerbates the challenge because we get used to talking mainly with fellow devotees. But it’s got to be done. Are you speaking in code? Stop it. Now.
3. Sell the sizzle, not the steak. Spoken like a true early 90′s ad grad, right? But really – like anything, you’ve got to sell the benefits, not the features. So abandon any remote thought of using the ” it’s about relationships, how can you put a measurement on that?” argument. One, it’s crap, and two, any marginally engaged client is going to be out the door at that point in the conversation. The other part of speaking their language (besides speaking plain English or whatever language you speak) is speaking to the bottom line. Today I shared with this client some great information on ROI measurement via thebrandbuilder blog which does an outstanding job of articulating the opportunity social communication tools present them to not just engage and build community, but to demonstrably grow their business.
4. Learn patience. As @ambercadabra recently reminded me, contrary to what I wanted to hear, we will all need to learn patience in spades to help most others navigate this sea change. Unfortunately, not every brand is run by innovators. It isn’t easy, but deal with it. I work with a guy who is the most amazing relationship-builder I have ever known because he nurtures a “sale” over the period of months, years, whatever it takes. And it that’s what it takes, I am determined to see this brand feed its online community. It will happen.
What do YOU think are the best ways to overcome Sociomediaphobia?

Yes, I AM Specialized. Do you care?

Dear @iamspecialized,
I would like you to know about my raging love affair. With my new Specialized Roubaix road bike.
Like your other 433 Twitter followers, I would actually like to have a relationship with you and your brand. But, since you are only following 20 of us, and using your Twitter feed as a one-way news and content feed, you are missing that opportunity.
I have tweeted about my Specialized bike. Had you been listening and responding, imagine the impact it would have had on me to have received a simple reply from you, saying “Hey, Spaight, thanks, welcome to the Specialized family.” I am what marketers dream of – you give me a little love in return, and I will spread the love like you won’t believe. And I’m sure there are others like me, with much more social clout that you are missing, too.
I really like Masi bikes, too. And @timjackson from masiguy.com talks to me. Funny thing, because I post so much about biking in all of my social haunts, lots of people have been asking me lately about what kind of bike to buy. What should I tell them? Are you interested in a relationship with us “regular folks”, or if I am not an elite rider, do you not care? Because that’s the impression I am getting from you. Your website is sweet and a joy to navigate. Your rider blogs and videos are entertaining, but from what I have seen, pretty much one way.
As @getresults tweeted this morning, “Listen, so they don’t vote with their feet.”
Are you listening?

Harley-Davidson is revving up its social web strategy

Two days ago, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Randy Sprenger at Harley-Davidson to learn about their social web efforts. As a former agency Account Director on their business, I have a ton of passion for the brand oozing through my veins, and frankly was seeing some things on Twitter that made me wonder if they “get it”. So I initiated this conversation to try to see things from their perspective.

I’m putting myself in a bit of an awkward position here, frankly, which is a great way to learn. If I say anything negative, I risk ticking off people I like at a company that I love. If I don’t, I’m not being completely honest. I’m counting on the fact that Randy – who is a seriously smart guy who had responsibility for harley-davidson.com globally for 8 years – said he is open to learning from others who have a strong point of view, as I learned from him.
Harley-Davidson has embraced digital communication in a way that has well supported the desires of their uber-passionate customer community. And the social web is no exception. Although from the outside it sometimes looks like they are moving “at the speed of corporate,” that is by conscious strategic choice. Moving deliberately ensures that they remain true to the ideals of the brand and authentic in spirit. Keep in mind: this is a brand that had a die-hard customer community — fueled by H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) — decades before community was cool.
So job one, socially speaking, must be to support the passions and needs of that community. With 145,000+ fans on Facebook so far, H-D can post a question to start a thread and have 175 fan posts in ONE HOUR. Would you kill for that kind of customer engagement? Yeah, I thought so. Take a look at their very global Facebook fan page here.
Facebook isn’t what H-D considers their biggest social web success, though. The company took some heat by a few die-hards for “selling out” when it used Victoria’s Secret model Marisa Miller to launch its V-Rod Muscle model. But in conjunction with a 24-hour featured video buy on YouTube, its “Making of Marisa Miller and the Harley-Davidson V-Rod Muscle” video drew 600,000 views. Check out the video here. Although I must admit that, at the time, I was in the “sellout” camp, it’s pretty hard to argue with that kind of outreach for a brand that has been working for a decade now to attract younger riders. As Randy said, “It’s become a cliche, but content is still king.” I couldn’t agree more — content and creativity — and there are few brands that can boast the trough of rich content that H-D has to feed from.
So the biggest thing I learned? Remember that things are not always as they seem from the outside.
If there’s anything I could constructively criticize about Harley’s social efforts – and there isn’t much – it would still be the personality, or relative lack thereof, of their Twitter presence.  In fairness, I should say that H-D started on Twitter in January 2009, so they are justifiably still in the “figuring it out” stage. I understand the logic that they are using it as a communication channel largely for “the brand” to communicate with those already engaged, and to listen to the voice of the customer. There can be no doubt that listening is a great early step on Twitter. But Twitter is also a chance to put a human face (or faces) and an otherwise corporate monolith, among a broader audience of curious passers-by who could very well become Harley riders if they are engaged in the incredible story and experience, by an actual human being.
The time has come for many brands to stop treating social networking like an extension of advertising, and time to start using it as the personal, individual connection tool that it is. Authentically communicate person-to-person, not business-to-consumer. And I know I’m not alone in this opinion, as I’ve seen other conversation about it in my networks. Whoever I saw coin the term “P2P” last week, step up and take credit. It’s the truth.
What’s next for Harley-Davidson on the social web and what’s their biggest question for all the social web gurus out there? They are indeed in the process of shifting from using it as a customer tool to talking with new folks. Part of that challenge is deciding how to best address its many diverse audiences – women, younger riders, Hispanic riders, and more.
Do you have any ideas? Have you seen a brand do a great job at this?
If anyone knows anyone at Nike in the web/social web function, please hook me up with them. Off the top of my head that’s the brand that’s got the most similar challenges.
Comments are very welcome – thanks.

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