smith + jones » Jumping into social media without a parachute not a good plan

Jumping into social media without a parachute not a good plan

I’ve been working with my super smart friend Mark Williams, the senior community manager at LiveWorld, on social media strategies for various clients. The more I research strategies, the more I realize how important it is to make a plan before you begin. I know it feels like, if you aren’t already in social media, that you are behind the game and need to get up & running stat. But resist the temptation to jump without a parachute. If you do not have a plan, you will not be able to maintain a consistent, branded presence online and you will lose fans & followers before you get up to speed. At a minimal, your plan should include your objectives for using social media, your strategies to reach those objectives, a posting/tweeting schedule (how often & who will do the posts), how you will handle feedback (both negative & positive), how you will measure success, and the general tone you will be using for each media. Using an outside agency, such as smith+jones, is a great idea to develop your initial plan, to get you started for a year or so, and to offer strategies in the future, but in the end, most of the communication to your community should be from your own staff. If your agency gives you a strategy without a plan on integrating your staff in the social media efforts, you might want to consider a new agency or at least request a new plan. Your staff give your business personality and help to build relationships with your customers. In the end, they should be your voice. As my friend said, “Once you start social media, it’s really bad to stop.” Make certain you set it up so that your social media plan can be maintained year after year. Social media is here to stay and will only get more & more important as an interactive marketing tool. Take the time to make a plan. Don’t get caught without a parachute.