Before you say to yourself, “My company needs to be on Facebook” or “How can I get my organization on Twitter,” you need to ask yourself the more fundamental question of WHY? What do you hope to do with it? This seems obvious, but I see too many companies that just jump in without really figuring out the basic question “What is my objective?” And before figuring that out, you really need to figure out who your audience is, and decide whether or not they will take to what you’re trying to do using social media.
First things first, and when it comes to social media, remember this acronym: P-O-S-T.
- People
- Objectives
- Strategy
- Technology
This acronym comes from an excellent book on social media entitled Groundswell, and I recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about social media (and you should be interested in it, because it’s not going anywhere). The book shares some very good strategies and case studies, and is a relatively quick read.
You see, just saying you want to be on Facebook or Twitter is jumping straight to the “T” (technology), but knowing your audience, your objectives and strategy to meet the objectives should truly dictate the technology.
So, start with PEOPLE. As in any marketing strategy, you need to have a clear picture of who your audience is. Is your target market even engaged in social media? Are they more likely to “talk” or “listen”? Will they write reviews? Do they even join groups like Facebook?
The book Groundswell is written by people who work for Forrester Research, and market research is their forte. You can view a presentation of how they break down people’s social media behavior.
What’s more, they give you a pretty cool tool that you can use to gauge what your target market is doing within social media.
Forrester Profile Tool
Check it out, and know your audience. Next time, we’ll talk about the “O”–Objectives. More to come.