Begin planning for social media integration

Businesses that are new to social media platforms tend to approach social media integration by assuming that their first step should be to launch a Facebook or Twitter presence, and then, “watch what happens.”  More often than not, this “knee-jerk” approach to social media will not achieve meaningful results for the business. The planning and approach to social media integration should be no different than any other marketing initiative. It requires goals, planning, and measurement. This approach applies to the integration of social media tactics as well. In the case of social media, the platform may be different, but the business need is not.

The following are key steps to implementing a successful social media strategy:

Identify business objectives and key performance indicators  - Work with clients to identify the underlying business challenges that tactics, such as social media, are intended to achieve. Document business objectives with clients to identify the right digital strategy and tactics to implement. Help the business identify its key performance indicators. These are metrics against which the success of deployed tactics will be measured. 

Understand target audience behavior – A user-centered design (UCD) methodology begins with end-user investigation, to identify key tasks and interactions with our clients’ brands. When planning for social media integration, identify the level of social and “hyper-social” behavior, exhibited by target end-users. Additionally, identify the optimal platforms and nature of the “social hierarchy” that exists within clients’ end-users’ social graphs. Your investigation should result in end-user personas that identify the behaviors of “key influencers” of the social hierarchy. Understanding their behaviors helps to accommodate their needs through the delivery of relevant content. Winning over the “social authorities,” within a social network, is key to the viral adoption of a business’ social tactics.

Identify relevant content – The key to a successful social media strategy is providing relevance and value to followers. Audit clients' existing content to understand what is relevant and valuable to their customers. Then, plan for distribution of that content, in regular, “bite-sized chunks,” across digital channels. In this phase, identify the right social media platforms for distribution of content assets. The goal is to help clients understand where their customers are interacting socially, and to provide their customers with the content that will help them drive engagement with their brand.

Develop a digital strategy & tactics that satisfy business objectives – Using the output of steps 1-3, as indicated above, plan a social media strategy and tactical execution aimed at achieving business objectives. A comprehensive strategy needs to address the following questions, “who the business is targeting?,” “what are the behaviors and content needs of the target audience?,” “what type of content will be delivered?,” and “what social media platforms will be leveraged for content deployment?”

Measure key performance indicators and plan for continuous optimization – Key performance indicators should be identified prior to development of tactics, as described in step 1, above. Once social media tactics have been identified and deployed, their performance against these important metrics should be continuously measured. If tactics are not achieving goals, they need to be enhanced. The following are relevant performance indicators to social media:

The level of the brand’s social influence:

• Strength – the likelihood that the brand is being discussed on social media platforms
• Sentiment – the ration of positive mentions vs. negative ones on social media platforms
• Passion- the likelihood that individuals who discuss the brand will do so repeatedly
• Reach – the measure of the range of influence of the brand

Of course, any successful initiative to integrate social media tactics require additional considerations beyond “a strategic framework.” Successful social media campaigns need continuous attention. Engaging in social media is like having an ongoing conversation with your customer. A business needs to have a personality, point-of-view, relevant content, as well as enough support to directly address specific thoughts and concerns from its customers.