Enterprise 2.0 – Sports Marketing and Sponsorships
Enterprise 2.0 – Sports Marketing and Sponsorships
Consider the multiplyer effect of combining tangible marketing efforts and traditional marketing with the reach, speed and penetration of online CPM. Even negative events drive attention online much more rapidly than in traditional media. (Dominos, United Airlines etc.). While both of these are also brand & reputation examples, the real key is in the viral activity that was created and the rapidity of the spreading message.
Combining online marketing with traditional marketing generates substantial leverage for sponsors, teams, and fans/consumers alike. The ability to identify, reach and penetrate markets and niches in ways never before possible and with measureable and quantifiable results as compared to traditional spends is the reason individuals like Chad Hurley (YouTube-Google) have become involved at the highest levels of motorsports. Social Media represents an infinite number of channels for reaching and interacting with groups and individuals that affect your business.
Online media channels offer the ability to interact directly with costumers and business interests that drive corporate revenues and YOUR brand, using a variety of media and quantifiable micro channels. Online strategies can provide your company with new sales opportunities, promotional leverage, and even Voice of the Customer influence on product designs and purchasing decision making – increasing revenues at very cost effective margins.
Online campaigning provides cost effective acceleration of CPM, as well as additional ways to establish loyal customer communities and evangelists that influence purchasing decisions that involve your brand.
Technology enables companies to not only listen to discussions about their brand and offerings, but to actively participate in discussions WHILE purchasing decisions or comparisons are being made.
For the first time in our lifetimes, business intelligence can be direct – and both the demand and supply sides enhanced using a combined offline and online medium of exchange. Sales cycles can be shortened, analytics used to establish how a brand or sale message can be in the right place at the right time, and predictive calculations can even be applied to predict market and customer movements.
For marketers – this means budgets can be more effectively allocated, results determined more accurately, and promotions and campaigns designed for maximum effectiveness. Using online mechanisms and multiplyer effects, a traditional spend can be amplified and longer tails of interest created and sustained.
Online market analysis can also tell you what your competitor is doing, and how effectively. It may even uncover hidden vulnerabilities at your company and theirs that can be owned by the first mover. You may even discover stealth projects and product launches that you never knew existed, and if tools are run on yourself – you may know where your own investment efforts might be compromised in order to take protective measures.
Do you know what your competitors are doing and where they have had successes or mistakes? How would you like to accelerate your learning, and avoid the costly missteps? Have you considered how to use your competitors marketing spends to actually drive attention in your direction?
Brand monitoring and market monitoring policies and procedures effectively protect brand equity and massively reduce risk profiles. Pre-emptive measures can be established for your brand, and knowing a competitors vulnerability – you can determine whether exploitation of a weakness is appropriate or not.
For the first time ever, customers have a voice and are requiring companies to listen and act accordingly. Those who do not embrace the online medium are rapidly losing market share to those that do. In a Darwinistic sense, obsolescence is being greatly accelerated as the world changes.
Is your company evolving?
Keep in mind that customers can instantly search for information about your company, products, prices, services etc. It is far better business to produce, control, and participate in this information flow than to either have a competitor provide dis-information, or let your corporate identity online be created by the masses.
Do you know what the world is saying about your company and how it is impacting your bottom line?
Social Media “yeah, we have that covered”
This is commonly heard in our Digital Media practice at CLS Global Solutions.
The euphemism is a great qualifier because it indicates a level of understanding of the digital marketplace. Often the comment is followed by an abrupt change of topic due to discomfort.
We then ask – “What do you measure, how do you measure and in what units” and “what data analysis techniques did you use to substantiate the business case and prioritization?” “Did your agency or web team ask these questions”?
Then it dawns on them. These are prudent business questions the company had never considered prior to charging off to chase the online market. With squirming in front of the execs.
More feebly this time, “I think we’ve got that covered.”
“We were told we needed to be X% on Facebook/Twitter. No we don’t have a quantified business case or justification.”
Sound familiar?
Social Media is NOT a channel, and goes far beyond Facebook and Twitter.
There are literally infinite combinations to consider that might fit business objectives more exactly. Knowing your state of readiness, capabilities, where your target audience is and exactly how to engage with them is critical. This means doing your homework, architecting a plan and implementing precise tactics.
Success is by design, and market responsiveness comes from a solid architecture.
Every market entry should have a plan with goals, objectives, and measurable performance. Perhaps there is simply a lack of understanding of fundamentals, processes and measurements. Sometimes “coverage” consists of randomly initiated and disconnected approaches resulting in an ineffective online presence borne of online trial by error, ad-hoc efforts, lack of ROI focus and gap in comprehensive oversight. Many companies start with DIY (Do It Yourself) – and rapidly realize red ink.
Survey the land, design and build the bridge to suit, THEN cross.
What would it be worth to KNOW what types of online investments make sense? Would you like to design in the returns that match corporate objectives or find out by accident that they don’t?
Knowledgeable executives:
• Know the online world touches every aspect of their company.
• The pace and fluidity of the online marketplace and have done their research.
• Engage expert guidance in order to generate business intelligence and ROI based road mapping.
• Know that “reactive” and “planned” are contradictory. This is a new paradigm and change is constant.
• Require that their employees understand every touch point their company has with the digital world.
• Avoid agencies that gloss over metrics and measurements, or fail to demonstrate quantified business cases
• KNOW how each aspect of their business is perceived online and what daily activities are taking place.
The decision makers who track their credit score and investment performance to the minute using online resources – fail to understand that this same empowerment exists with regard to how their company interfaces with social media. We show them HOW at executive and functional levels.
Have you “got it covered”?
Where does your company fall on this spectrum?
Are investments made based on business cases supported by factual data, or are they guesswork?
Why take the risk and waste dollars on trial and error?
What is covered? How do you know?
• How is the business case and roadmap constructed? How does this map to objectives?
• What research was conducted?
• What were the information resources – and where did they get the information from? How is it validated?
• How did you prioritize and select that investment? What are the competitive factors used?
• How are you measuring ROI? What metrics are being used? How do you know these are the right ones?
• What types of contingency plans and policies are in place? Are there any gaps or variables?
Social Media Intelligence
Intelligent Social Media is the Web Strategy practice of factual business case construction, starting with comprehensive benchmark.
Every activity undertaken on the web can be digitally monitored and measured. A web strategy recognizes that social media consists of thousands of channels and matrixes that need to be custom fitted to a business objective roadmap and implementation plan. When executives are provided a web strategy based on a quantified business case, they understand how ROI is derived and measured, they understand the exact state of “social media readiness” and they know the steps and investment necessary to be successful.
Are you Social Media Intelligent?
What is your state of Readiness?
• How are you doing business online right now? Is it producing the measureable results you desire?
• Do you have a plan in place with milestones, roadmap sequencing and coordination across all departments?
• Are there any revenue streams that you haven’t tapped? How do you validate this today?
• How do you identify, monitor, quantify and manage risks?
• Do you know exactly what and how your competition is doing? Why not?
• Do you know where you are vulnerable? (Your competition may…)
• Do you have appropriate policies and procedures in place across all functions of your organization?
• Are you aware of every possible touch point your company has and what these represent?
• Have you conducted an objective audit of activities to validate online assumptions, opportunities and risks? Do you audit expenditures frequently and adjust toward cost effective digital solutions?
What makes us different?
CLS Global is a professional services firm specializing in digital/web strategies and interim technology leadership.
We always kick off our projects with a benchmarking. ALWAYS.
We generate relevant online business intelligence first and then provide our client with a prudent planning and implementation structure based on corporate objectives. You would question a physician who prescribes a pill without conducting diagnostics, wouldn’t you?
We specialize in several areas of Web Strategy:
• Online Competitive Intelligence
• Online Marketing Audits
• Brand and Reputation Management
• Product and Services development for Internet based companies
Our methodology is proven to:
• Increase revenues and revenue growth streams
• Increase margins
• Decrease costs, misalignments, risk
• Increase brand and brand awareness
Compensation is based on a fee based structure and a % of the increased revenue growth or cost recovery.
Daytona 500 Winner – without a plan?
It’s never gonna happen. Competition is too fierce, stakes are too high.
When it comes to being online, does this sound like your business? It doesn’t have to.
This note is in response to meetings with Hendrick, Gibbs Racing, Interstate Batteries and a bunch of the Good ‘Ol Boys (and Girls) headed to the big round and round known as Americas Race.
The Daytona 500.
There are numerous metaphors useful to describe our work – depending on the audience. We understand all types of sports marketing and Web Strategizing – but this week I want to address the motorheads.
Anyone can mash a throttle and go careening off the walls. Only those with a set of objectives and a finely architected vehicle and campaign stand a chance of winning against highly prepared competitors.
Online is no different. Except the environment and rules are constantly changing. So, if you don’t have a structure and process for something as contained and regulated as oval racing, and no expertise to call on…. you should probably stay in the stands.
Actually, that’s not fair. What you should do is find a coach to get you up to speed at lowest risk, best bang for the dollar, and most thorough coverage. If you want to enter the online race and be credible – do it right.
Racing is a process. Race preparation, just like planning a Web Strategy – is a constant working and reworking of variables and factors that influence change. Design is both an art and a science. So is online business.
We just happen to be good at both.
The value differentiator at CLS Global is that we implement a prudent and scalable business methodology (based loosely on Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey, and Accenture/Microsoft models).
Most advertising or marketing agencies don’t have any idea what I’m talking about here. Enterprise software designers and NASCAR crew chiefs sure do though. So does any business that has been burned by chasing hype.
With no dicipline, you cannot possibly compete on a dollar for dollar basis. Without the dicipline, you cannot have successful market responsiveness or change management agility. You are going to get yur ass whupped.
Racing teams follow a process for successful campaigning. After all – when was the last time someone won a major event without a large R&D sand planning effort prior to entering a race series?
You don’t build a winning car with mismatches pieces, and you don’t build a profitable online business on guesstimates.
Why would you waste your resources or risk your company online this way? Disjointed pieces, no plan, reacting to market pressures….these are attributes of passengers, who are not incontrol of their fate.
We create winning drivers and teams who OWN their competitive space. We build successful web strategies, online businesses and campaigns for sports and motorsports related businesses, from teams to sponsors.
Often this entails creation of online communities around a common interest or associated interests. Why? Because we believe that engagement online has serious mutual value – for the Fans, and for the companies involved.
We believe that the internet offers the richest media options, and the best experiences. Plus – it’s digital. Ones and Zeros. Completely measureable by the very computers that run it. If you know how and what to measure.
We KNOW we are on the right track.
When Chad Hurley joined USF1, he made no secret about the value and critical nature and profitability from using online media to build an online community of fans around USF1 and their sponsors.
Do your research, know your objectives – then scale up accordingly. One size does not fit all. If an agency is telling you to get on Twitter or Facebook and doesn’t have the data to support a viable business case – run away and call us. We can walk you through this. Enter the race with knowledge and a plan.
Start by knowing exactly what you are getting into and why. Begin with manageable components (rent a go-Kart first), then progress to the next level. The by-product of smoothness is speed and agility/responsiveness.
We also KNOW that companies who do not have a planned and carefully architected online presence will fail.
If you don’t use R&D to get a planning and constructing edge, your competitors will. The key is to hire someone who not only can demponstrate a solid methodology, but can also think outside the box.
Would you rather have us working for you, or for them?
Design for success or get your ass kicked by someone who did.
Have fun Y’all…we’ll be in the Wind Tunnel.
The Big Squeeze
Social Media Sites are squeezing out traditional media in terms of time, advertising and audience.
In terms of advertising impressions in the US, sites like Facebook and Myspace account for more than 20 percent. These sites are the aggregation of the longtail of marketing, so LongTail is alive and well, however consolidated.
The Long Tail of the Internet is largely being aggregated by social media sites that offer a platform for the huge number of small content generators. This is putting pressure on portals and the traditional media in terms of advertising because their shares of both time and page views are declining.
So what is the way forward? Instead of trying to challenge these sites, traditional media should find a way to benefit from the attractive platforms.
By combining the mediums, a variety of multipliers can be brought to bear.
We at CLS Gobal have been blowing this horn for some time. Yet we also recognize the cycle of centralization/decentralization and the societal resistance to conformity or domination by a few entities, regardless of type.
How do you know what’s attractive for your business?
Make sure that you do a VERY comprehensive online intelligence sweep that includes your interests and those of your competitors.
Armed with data about where your targets are and how they want to be communicated with, you can construct a roadmap of engagement.
Without the research – you are simply guessing.
And the last time I checked – guesswork didn’t come with a predictable ROI.
The last time Madison Avenue was in control was in the 60’s, and there were controllable media networks, only three in television. These are the braintrusts attempting to convince you they have Social Media figured out.
My 13 year old knows more about online media placement than most agency execs. Her question is – Why don’t they just do their homework?
If you feel caught in a quandry, give us a call. We provide the real world online analysis so that you can build and implement viable strategies that have highest ROI and lowest risk.
Sponsorship ROI Opportunities in Motorsports
Enhancing Sponsorship ROI Opportunities in Motorsports
StuWiley
Teams are beefing up their offerings with media, track assets and other elements not typically found in a car sponsorship package.
To better entice brands, teams are looking for innovative ways to add value to the sponsorship package, rather than slashing prices, although there’s plenty of that going on as well, industry sources said.
That added value could come in the form of space in industry magazines, websites or radio broadcasts, as well as track assets such as time on the SprintVision video board. Teams are sometimes buying that inventory to enhance the package of assets for prospective sponsors. This is where enhanced online presence offers additional leverage over traditional media, and is the direction teams such as the newly formed US Formula 1 operation are headed. When people like Chad Hurley of You Tube get involved, you know you are on the right track.
CLS Global is in the middle of this mix, providing teams, sponsors and organizers the ability to develop and tap into online communities and create fan based social media ROI campaigns in order to provide high returns for motorsports related interests. Teams that offer sponsors additional value in the form of ready made online customer bases and opportunities for market penetration by sponsors carry a premium.
“In the past, you wouldn’t have those conversations with other people in the industry because you feared that someone would steal your sponsor,” said Steve Lauletta, president of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. “Now everyone realizes that you’re better off at least getting a percentage of a sponsor’s dollars instead of trying to get all of the sponsor’s dollars.
“What you’re seeing is a greater collaboration between teams and other parts of the industry to be creative and make these packages more valuable.”
The fractured nature of NASCAR assets has sometimes been a turnoff to brands. There’s practically no one-stop shopping—talk to the track for a track deal, talk to the team for a car deal, talk to the broadcaster for a media deal, talk to NASCAR for a league deal.
Teams think they can offer a more well-rounded sponsorship package by bundling these assets into one package for the brand while holding the line on price.
“Keeping price integrity is hugely important,” Corcoran said. “Fire sales might get a team by in the short term, but it hurts the industry. And we see plenty of companies come through just looking for a bargain.”
There’s also the specter of a busy free agent class next year that includes Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle, among others. With so much anticipated driver movement, new sponsor opportunities will emerge and it might make sense for brands to sit on the sidelines and re-emerge next year.
“For the most part, teams are doing a good job holding steady on prices, but they are willing to negotiate,” said Moffitt of MCG Sports. “What you’re not going to see next year is a lot of new money in the sport. But for the companies that have suffered from sticker shock before, now is a good time to look at the opportunities that are out there.”
QuickTips: Your Brand and Social Marketing
Overcome the Mystery of Social Marketing:
A recent bit of discussion with one of our clients reminded me to recycle this quick tip list. Our charter was to assist a 90 year old company with a very established and entrenched dealer channel to come to grips with a web future.
1. Monitor and Listen to understand customer needs. First, retain a digital consulting firm that understands how to use various brand monitoring tools and applications in order to understand the needs of your customers in the real time social web. As part of your overall budget, allocate a sufficient amount of attention to the monitoring and tracking of your customer base and trends.
2. Use content sharing tools. These enable customers to share corporate created content such as videos, blog posts, images, and contests. There are numerous sharing tool vendors that can be used to Vendors such as Share This can quickly get a brand up and running. The use of these tools quickly promotes corporate content out into the social media.
3. Create Brand related competitions and user contests. Develop programs that maintain the brand experience while emcouraging memembers to share the experience with others. Recently there has been a surge in Facebook applications along the lines of “which one of your friends is a Band Geek” who appreciates musical instruments, purchases sheet music and gift products”. Ask for the public to vote on favorites then broadly amplify the results. Encourage the sharing.
4. Highlight consumer created content from “Endorsees”. If celebrities or endorsees are using your products and talk about them, echo it back and highlight from your own efforts. Create cross promotional traffic and share the attention. Solicit additional reviewers and pundits to engage in discussion about your value proposition. Highlight users of your products in your blog, from Twitter, or other social technology “Listen to Cary Judd playing our prototype electric guitar” or “submit your best Ukalele tune”, allow users to share and spread it to their own websites. Encourage and promote submisskions to YouTube and other media sites.
5. Develop or sponsor lifestyle communities and actively engage in discussions of all types. Branded communities, social networks, or bloggers can all be reached using traditional media relations tactics. Know what social media platforms are frequented by your market, and join in.
Commuity influencers can be identified and engaged with the help of your online media consultants. And make sure that you invite your dealers to participate, providing incentives to do so. Not unlike traditional product trial programs, you can develop brand affinity in the social space through testimonial and endorsement programs. The trick however is to become a platform to uplift their voice (positive or negative) and support community interests while indicating a willingness to address the negatives – and not just insert or push your own agenda or product sales pitches.
Media 2010
Companies with end to end solutions that have a high degree of digital presence are expected to fare the best in 2010. No-where is this more apparent than with established brands that fit well with Voice of the Customer and community engagement models. Scaling does not have to be enterprise level in order to be highly cost effective, as long as the correct amount of attention is placed on identifying markets and customer placements on various web platforms, and penetrating them with invitational rather than broadcast messaging.
While moving marketing allocations and spends online has proven out to be cost effective, don’t rely simply on banner ads – rather look for creative value ad opportunities and vehicles to provide information or edutainment messages to customers of interest. By providing something with value and substance, engagement becomes a partnership instead of the historic one way street. By allowing and encouraging your customers to help craft messages and help determine what needs and interests that a company can service, you are ingratiating yourself in their domain of choice, and key customers and influencers will by definition opt into accepting advertising and value proposals put forth.
Fail to meet the partnership bar however, and you can expect to fall into the “ignore” category. If you are not addressing online markets in terms of customer engagement, retention, and analytics –good luck.
For some reason the requirement for active participation with mutual value has yet to be embraced by many marketers and agencies. If you are working with an agency that is still trying to penetrate markets with a % advertising allocation approach across Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Google etc. without the foundational understanding of required people to people involvement, you should look for a different agency. Push is out, Pull is in. High touch does not have to be high cost, but it does have to be transparent.
eMarketer predicts that online advertising spending will increase by 5.5 percent to $23.6 billion in 2010, reversing a 4.6 percent decline last year.
Search engine spending should be around 15%-20%, an increase from around 6% in 2009. Search engines are THE gateway for discoverability, and will be so for some time to come. Companies will continue to need a solid SEM and SEO strategy, and more sophisicated anagement and maintenence. There is no slowing of the Google, Bing juggernauts – so you’d best assume a fair portion of your online budgets will be necessary. That doesn’t mean you can’t be smart however, and move the balance of PayPerClick and Organic activities to be highly cost effective.
“The difference between the Internet and traditional media like TV is that there are infinite possibilities” online, says Scott Schiller, svp of ad sales, Comcast Interactive Media. “Why would that change in 2010?”
If you want to be successful, hire a company to do comprehensive research into the infinite possibilities so that you can create a best fit roadmap and tactical plan. There is no one size fits all, and there are no magic bullets. Dominating your space takes diligence, homework and frequent adjustments – as well as direct participation by the corporate clients.
Just how does social networking fit into the digital media mix? Many contend that while nearly every major advertiser is interested in social media in some fashion, the true value for brands on sites like MySpace and Facebook lies in customer retention and analytics, rather than as vehicles for display ads. Know where your customers are and how to engage with them. Forget hype, there are plenty of tools available (Call us with questions) to assess when and where your targets are online for positioning and timing of your message. This sure beats the ol Nielsen “rating” system where a dog in front of a TV was counted as an impression. Digital really does have infinite possibilities – are you on board? Are you working with experts?
Of course, no digital forecast is complete without someone extolling mobile’s potential for the coming year, and someone else tempering that prediction. 2010 is no different. Per eMarketer, mobile ad spending should jump by 42 percent this year; yet the medium represents just 3 percent of digital spending.
But at the very least, “in certain categories, mobile will have a definite seat at the table,” says Schiller. “Media buyers like to buy what they know and understand. And everyone has a Blackberry and iPhone.”
Thanks to ubiquitous wireless broadband networks and a variety of portable Internet access platforms, the solution, increasingly, must be anywhere and anytime.
And what about TV? What about local opportunities?
Stations are cultivating online and mobile revenue in the effort to build new business models. According to BIA/Kelsey, TV stations can expect to ring up about $600 million in online ad revenue in 2010, versus $463 million in ‘09. As part of those initiatives, stations are partnering with other local stations to create video news pools and going hyperlocal both online and on-air, trying to find solutions to expensive syndicated programming. This plays hand in glove with an astute local online search effort, and ROI can be delivered in a matter of months. Companies with sponsorship agendas, such as those with athletics, sports, or celebrities should take note. Regional and local scaling is affordable and beneficial.
“We’re all going to be focused on those other revenue streams,” says Paul Karpowicz, president of Meredith Broadcasting. “You’ll see a lot more emphasis on local programming. In an environment where ratings are scarce, if you can create a format that has sponsorship, product integration elements, that becomes attractive.” In total, all of TV’s additional revenue, including Internet, mobile, digital subchannels and retransmission could account for as much as 13 percent of TV stations’ revenue, with online and retrans representing more than 5 percent each, according to TVB. This is a BUYERS MARKET. Companies with a strong marketing mix that is both traditional and digital, and with a solid understanding of new market dynamics – can literally call the shots.
Astonishingly, no-one is sure why the concept of digital re-mixing has taken so long for marketers and advertisers to understand. For the agencies and corporations alike, the current environment is a marketers dream – and prices and barriers to entry are low. Do your homework, and come out swinging!
Can “in flight” advertising be local?
A jet charter company has to generate more sales leads, at lowest cost of customer acquisition. Squeezing profit out of each flight is critical, and cost effective sales and marketing means the difference between surviving or closing the hanger.
Competing in today’s jet charter space through online channels is more than just showing up first on the search engines.
Many searches result in over a million options. Obviously the sites past the few pages rarely get visited. The perfect website offering the perfect product or service will go unvisited if it hasn’t been optimized for search engines. SEO (search engine optimization) is important and only the beginning to push a website to the first pages.
The buzz surrounding Social Networking sites may cause media buyers to shy away from allocating budget to the social networking platforms. Those who are just now getting on board may be “showing up late to the party”, while the current advertisers are experiencing disappointing click-through rates.
Despite the mixed reviews, there is still plenty of opportunity to become profitable through media buys involving social networks. The opportunity especially exists for local advertisers, and when it comes to advertising on social networks, local advertisers have the home field advantage.
When purchasing media, it is important to ask partners “what are your users’ demographics?” Every media buy should contain a clear and concise definition of the target audience.
Let’s face it, reaching your target audience is the most crucial factor in any internet marketing endeavor, and targeting the right users based on their specific interest or behavior is critical in media buying.
We advocate a surgical approach to mapping audience to advertising and marketing messages. By performing the correct due diligence, advertising and marketing spends can be allocated very efficiently and produce maximum returns using online media.
Afraid of Social Media? Take smaller steps and scale up.
Get moving. Evolve or get run over.
Marketing Sherpa reports that close to 50% of business executives reported that the lack of knowledgeable staff was the biggest barrier to adopting social media for business purposes. With so much information at your fingertips, there is no excuse. The new frontier requires knowledgable navigation – so Hire a Guide. What are you afraid of?
Even though the idea and practice of online social media has been around since well before the beginning of the internet in the form of electronic billboards (remember BBS?) and forums, new technologies, platforms and rules of Word of Mouth social engagement have companies and marketers confused. Look, the paradigm has shifted, so put on your adaptation armor and dive right in. Its not changing back, and those who embrace are less likely to receive a Darwin Award. Get help, move forward and get out of the herd of bleating, scared and perplexed sheep.
As for ROI not being measureable? That’s an excuse used by the sheep. Social Media is not only measurable, there are MORE relevent metrics and data sources available now than in the entire history of our planet.
Fundamentally, the new paradigm requires new math, old measurements and linear thinking do not apply to a geometric environment. Social Media is definately and amazingly measureable. You just have to use geometric thinking.
Know where you are today.
If you dont have a grasp of where you are at this moment and what environmental factors you need to consider – go back two squares. Seriously, even a GPS is smarter than that. The first thing it does when you turn it on is say YOU ARE HERE. You cant figure out where you are going unless you know all the details about where you are today, and what touchpoints exist. Go hire an expert to get a Social Media Assessment or audit, conduct a competitive intelligence sweep. If any of your so called “advisors” miss this step – fire them immediately and find another.
Know what Social Media is, and what it isnt.
Social Media refers to an online environment, not a strategy or a tool. If your advisors claim that it is either – then they dont understand the new paradigm and you are better off finding someone who understands the new frontier. A Digital Strategy can contain a Social Media Strategy- which is a set of methods with which to engage and interact with the environment. A Digital strategy is simply a planning process to help companies design strategies and create a roadmap for meeting tactical objectives. A common mistake many companies make is to think Social Media is a separate channel. A Social Media policy and strategy is a component of each and every functional or operational component of a business. Social Media affects ALL aspects of a business. This needs to be understood at all levels of an organization, and across all silos.
The Social Media environment and the effects on a company are NOT just marketing/marcom, PR or sales issues.
If you need some examples – go to www.clearwiresucks.com, www.glenntilton.com, read how Dominos was impacted by a YouTube video, and PAY ATTENTION. Ignorance has cost these companies MILLIONS of dollars and lost goodwill.
The perception of your company online IS reality.
Define your objective. Define how you will measure success.
Many companies spend countless wasted dollars by not knowing what it is that they are trying to accomplish. Because of this, naysayers will tell you that Social Media ROI is not measureable. If you dont know what you are trying to do and what represents success, how can you possible apply measurement metrics?
There are many possible objectives – usually stated at a functional level. These may include:
Increase brand awareness
Reputation management- Improve trust and brand perception
Improve customer service
Sell products or services
Obtain market trending and competitive intelligence
Identify new markets and addressable niches, and quantify the opportunity
Defend against encroachment by competitors
Improve investor confidence
Generate dialogue and feedback for product development
Improve inter-company communications and collaboration
Improve communications and collaboration with supply chain partners
Recruit new employees
Defend against legal liabilities
Improve operational management
Stack rank your objectives by their probable contribution to Increased revenues/margins, decreased costs or improved brand. Don’t try this all at once. Start with the top 3 and work your way down the list. Scale up as you become more proficient. Hire proxies where necessary. What you may find is that your idea of prioritization and the marketplaces ideas of what they want from your company are radically different. Be flexible and adaptable. Cost savings in one area can be used to fund others.
Develop an Online Strategy.
<If you dont know the difference between a digital strategy and an online strategy (they are not interchangeable) please contact us.>
What conversations do you want to have? With whom? Why those? On what platforms? Why those platforms? Are you wanting to be on Facebook because of the hype, or do you have a measureable objective? What are you going to give in return for the dialogue- what are your contributions? What will those conversations do for your defined objectives? Who are the most influential people in those conversation areas? How will you approach those people and develop trust? Enter into a relationship for a reason.
Listen to what people are saying about you.
Conversations are happening right now about your company, your products, and your brand. Not all of them are positive. Make sure you fully understand the subjects being discussed and the tone of the conversations. If you enter into the conversation, do so for the purpose of answering questions and providing clarity. There are good free tools, but the best ones require subscriptions – often expensive.
Learn the tools and use them.
There are thousands of resources available online. Just search for Social Media tools or go to Mashable.com. Dont be fooled, not all tools are useful, and not all of them do what they claim to do. Case in point is Visible Technologies and their claim of “semantic” monitoring. The fact is that there is no way to absolutely tell of semantics or tone from counting keywords, locations and phrases, and Google and Microsoft have spent billions of dollars on R&D without success- and they own the search engines. Beware the “freebies” such as Millions of Twitter Folloers for $29.95. These are automated, and usually trigger a blackballing from the Social Network administrators.
Find experts.
Dont be fooled by the gadget sellers or tools vendors with “cures for whatever ails” Social Media is about approaching a problem with a solution, not trying to force a tool to be a solution that defines a business problem. If someone tries to sell you a tool first- run away. Find experts who do their homework and analysis first. “If you were trying to build a house and your “architect” told you you didnt need a blueprint, just buy a chainsaw and start building – what sort of house do you think you would get?” If YOU are accountable for results, find experts who can objectively analyze your marketing spends and validate your metrics and assumptions. Make sure that they use MULTIPLE methods of validation, not just Google Analytics. (Whose interest is it in for Google to sell you the message that only their analytics are necessary? How do you think they got so big?) Check your experts out – do they walk the talk? Are they present on various mediums? Or is this a case of synthetic fame on twitter through use of automated “followers”. Just because they have followers does not make them credible. Be smart.
This is NOT push marketing.
You will alienate entire groups of potential customers if you try to use those transparently self serving message and advertising techniques in the new world. You are but a heartbeat from a delete key. Social Media interaction is about contributing, not taking. You will receive back to the extent that you put in. If your campaigns are old school, they are already obsolete. If you think you are going to broadcast ads on twitter and get responses, think again. Let your competitors fall into this trap and damage their own efforts and waste money, but don’t do it yourself.
The people and firms that abuse Social Media are destined to be punished by the same, not only be ignored but actually ostracized. Word of Mouth is VERY powerful and the lashbacks can be severe.
Allocate resources to do it right.
Engaging with people in conversations doesn’t have to be a full time job, and can be shared among many people. The workload is proportional to the objective, so don’t short change yourself. Staff up accordingly, and delegate. Some “authorities” will tell you that to be successful at least one person should spend 40 hours per week. That’s bunk. The resources required depends entirely on the scope of the job. You should however try to source the role with someone who has experience. And just because they can blog, doesn’t mean they know how to set a digital strategy or function in social media. It simply means that they can create and hold appropriate conversations. There are many expert resources that can provide these interim resources for you. CLS Global can, so ask us.
Create GOOD, FRESH content.Create content that is thought provoking and stimulates online discussion or conversation, and not just volume. Repurpose content you already have invested in, as long as it isnt too dated. Create a plan to develop the content and let people know when and where it will be available. Dont hide it behind myriads of signins or questionnaires either. You have about 5 seconds when they decide whether to click or leave. Once you have optimized searches to get them to your content – dont blow it. Seek out conversion experts.
Content is King. Content is critical to add value to the community being engaged. And by add value, we mean real true transparent contribution. If you lie online and are caught, it cannot be reversed. Your content should be truthful, transparent, and represent your values and ideals.
Find expert content managers.
They will be able to help you ascertain the right size, positioning, and relevant content strategies so that you can be sure your content maximizes your positive messages and encourages sharing. If you need resources or need to know how to identify these people, tweet us or send us a mail. Many of the CLS Global staff members were online content managers or directors of content management teams at some point in their career.
The good news is that content does not need to be an expensive proposition. User generated content is free. Blog posts do not cost much. Even online video can be had for significantly less than broadcast. Because the stakes are not nearly as high as content developed for traditional media, you can create a lot more of it, for the same money or much less. Frequency is one of the most important aspects of social media so make sure you are loaded with content on an ongoing basis.
CRITICAL : Establish your policies and procedures.
From C level on down to the lowest on the totem pole, and across all departments in your organization. This is brain dead basic business 101. The environment and ecosystem you are in has radically changed, and you need to change with it. Determine who is being represented when an employee blogs on their personal time, set rules and create disclaimers if necessary.
While some companies will literally recoil from perceived risk and not allow employees to access this amazing wealth of interaction and information from work – DEMAND that the authorities allow you to do so. An isolationist strategy is just that. It spells a death knell for a company. Fear is not a corporate strategy, its an absolute GUARANTEE that investors will quickly seek other vehicles and potential customers will deem you obsolete.
Select your most diplomatic and conversant people to be your interface with this new world, calm composed and quality ombudsmen/women. Engaging with customers should not put you off from doing so. You may find the one customer created nugget that saves your bacon in a recession, or opens up opportunities that you never would have thought of in house. If you are asking questions like – What if people say bad things about us? How do I make sure employees don’t share proprietary information? Won’t competitors check us out and steal our ideas and thinking? ….you really need help to get over this phobia. Hire an expert like CLSGlobal to show you how to set policies and remove these blocks from growth. After all – the entire world is in on this – you should be too.
Bottom line here is to force your company to EVOLVE. If you don’t, the market will decide on your identoty and do it for you. You may not like the direction.
If you don’t have the knowledge, hire trainers. (yes, we do that too.)
Those of us who have evolved and embraced the global change will simply look to do businesses with companies who have, and the companies that dont will become chagrined owners of a Darwin Award. The speed of the internet and Social Media means rapid change, so paying attention DAILY and evolving with the trends is critical for corporate success and survival.
