Keeping up with social media

If you”™re concerned your company is falling too far behind in the new world of social media marketing, take heart. Even the communications pros are working hard to keep up. Case in point: The Westchester-Fairfield Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America recently called in some expert colleagues to keep them abreast of emerging best practices.

The message: There are no “experts.” The social media landscape is changing so quickly that no one has figured it all out. This was according to a presentation, “Social Media and PR: Keeping It Real,” by Chris Knopf, CEO of Mintz & Hoke, an advertising and PR agency in Avon, Conn., and Sharon Harper, social media/PR associate with the agency.

“It”™s the Wild West ”“ and getting wilder,” said Harper. “But you can”™t ignore it, so embrace it, enjoy it and ”“ like in judo ”“ go with the energy. The more you try to control it the worse it is.”

There are some emerging rules of the road, though. Here are some tips from Knopf and Harper:

  • Keep two sets of brains. One that”™s tied to your base of knowledge and one that”™s open to what”™s new.
  • Social media can potentially integrate with all other marketing, but be sure it aligns with other strategies and supports business goals.
  • Do not over-commercialize your social media messages.
  • Determine what you can do in-house and where you need to outsource to be consistent and successful.
  • The first rule of getting started is, “Listen before you join the conversation.”
  • Two or three months is not unreasonable to determine where you”™ll engage ”“ Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ ”“ see who”™s saying what/where about issues and your company, and to establish your voice.
  • Content is key. Create a content calendar that overlaps with anticipated company, industry or calendar events.
  • Create new content or re-purpose existing material ”“ as long as you”™re adding value.

 

Measure your efforts

According to Knopf, “From a business point of view, it”™s critical to monitor and measure the impact of your efforts in social media. To do that, you must create the metrics. What should you measure and what equals success?” There are both free and paid tools to use for this purpose, which we”™ll address in a future column

  • Social media reach ”“ The number of fans and followers, brand mentions and other concrete measure of a growing online presence.
  • Engagement ”“ The number of discussion topics and the tenor of the conversation.
  • Inbound measures ”“ Traffic, inbound links (links from other websites to yours), contest entries, app downloads.

In all of this, there is also a quality vs. quantity consideration. Not all social engagement creates equal influence. Of course, in the inbound marketing approach, viewed overall, the key performance indicator (KPI) is how much actual business your online marketing efforts are driving.

 

Ellie Becker is president of E.R. Becker Company Inc. in Norwalk, a public relations and inbound marketing consultancy. She is an inbound marketing certified professional. Reach her at ellie@erbeckercompany.com or read her blog at www.erbeckercompany.com.

 

Bernadette Nelson is principal of Studio B/Visual Communication in Norwalk. She has more than 20 years of experience in graphic and web design. Reach her at b@studiob-ct.com or www.studiob-ct.com.