You Don't Need a Social Media Strategy

Jumping into social media without a strategy and plan is not a good idea.  But do you need a stand-alone SOCIAL MEDIA strategy?  What distinguishes a social media strategy?  Is it a communications strategy?  A marketing strategy?  An engagement strategy?  (And what do you mean by an engagement strategy?)

You don't need a social media strategy.  You need a business strategy.  And you need a transition strategy to help your organization and employees embrace new, more effective ways of operating.  Those new means include social media, and exploring the value of becoming a social business.

When I work with organizations to develop social media strategies, the strategies have two distinct areas of focus.

The first, and most important, follows Clover Architecture.  The biggest hurdles for successfully using social media align with the 3 big leaves of clover architecture: culture, leadership and governance.  Technology, the fourth and smaller leaf of the four leaf clover, is the fourth area of a social media strategy.

The second part of a social media strategy involves developing and aligning a plan with the overall business strategy.  We begin by considering 3 issues:

1.  Objectives - What are the organization's objectives and how will you use social media to help you achieve them?

2.  Customers and Audiences - What are the characteristics of your target audiences?  How do those audiences use social media?  Where do they currently hang out on-line?  How can you best reach and engage with them?

3.  Resources - Who in your organization interacts with customers?  Where is there wiggle room?  (Yes, there is always wiggle room.  If you have customer-facing staff, there are unplanned times when the retail lines are non-existent or the customer service lines are not ringing.  Customers follow their own timelines, which are often not those you planned!)

Only THEN do we define social media activities and tools and execution plans.

It's easy to create a plan.  It's hard to create a plan to implement your overall strategy and impact your business.  

Let me know what have been your keys to social media strategy success.