Many companies (and organisations) pursue a very clear and simple strategy when it comes to social media: hit and run! This is usually driven by the desire of the company boss, sales boss or Chief Marketing Officer to ”finally be visible on Facebook and so on!” The result: hammer out what you can and use all channels. What you self like is good! It can work, but it can also go wrong. And if it goes wrong because some stupid users don’t stick to the non-existent rules, the ripcord is pulled – and the comment functions are switched off. After all, you can’t allow just anyone to write their often unqualified opinion. It all sounds strange, but this strategy is more widespread than we all realise, even in digital countries like Sweden.
A social media strategy is not rocket science – and if you already have a communication strategy for your company (see “Communication strategy – a very important tool”), you are already doing pretty well.
A good social media strategy answers some important questions:
What do we want to achieve? Do we want to inform, sell or help?
What do we want to talk about? Products? Services? Or our employees and customers?
Which channels do we want to use? And what do our target groups actually use?
And how do we keep track of all this? And what do we do when a stupid comment comes in?
So: a good social media strategy consists of the content of the communication: these are our topics. It also includes who we address our content to – and thus helps us to find the right channel! A little tip: less is more! And if the strategy also includes monitoring the social media you use, then you’ve achieved a lot. And last but not least, you need a moderator who actively manages these channels. What does active mean? Active means reacting quickly to things. Many negative developments, shitstorms, can be nipped in the bud very early on. But once again, let’s be clear: ”fast” really means fast. In social media, minutes count! If you have to have a reply to a post proofread three times and wait for the opinion of the company boss and the legal department, you are wasting your time. Working as a moderator or admin is a question of trust and expertise – it’s the only way to act quickly!
Social media offer a tremendous opportunity – through their dialogue function. If you don’t want to or can’t use it, you should keep your hands off it. Help is a dime a dozen, just post that you need a good communications consultant… 😉