Good Old Fashioned Social Media

Chris Muckridge is a copywriter at OSD and is interested in the use of online social media in marketing.
Last summer I attended a popular art fair with my wife and children, ages 3 and 5. The fair was hosted at a small neighborhood park and offered exposure to a wide variety of regional artists. Each artist displayed their art in small tents or booths, of sorts. Included in the mix of artist booths was a tent sponsored by The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Hmmm. A museum booth at an art fair? Within their tent they were offering kids the opportunity to create their own art. They had paint and paper and brushes, everything a child needed to create a masterpiece. Each kid got to create his or her own masterpiece. For the parents they offered information about membership and upcoming exhibits. But most importantly, they offered parents a brief break and an activity for restless children. The museum staff was friendly and engaging. They actively recruited children to participate and walked them through the process. As the kids were painting, they courteously asked about our knowledge of the museum. We were already members, so they bypassed the membership spiel and casually offered information about upcoming exhibit information. They also asked if we had any questions for them.

The result was a social engagement. Our kids interacted with an activity, and my wife and I interacted with museum staff regarding upcoming exhibits. In the end our children walked away with a nice little painting and my wife and left with information and a feeling that our investment in the museum was worthwhile.

So here is my question. Other than venue, what is different about this experience and what we should expect from online Social Media? The answer is nothing. Social Media should be the online equivalent of the Children’s Museum booth at the art fair. The objectives of Social Media can be many, but in the end, they should ultimately, establish goodwill, create loyalty or broaden exposure. Likewise, your metrics for success should be aligned with these objectives as well. Product sales and lead generation are probably not the best metrics for Social Media. The same can be said about limiting metrics to basic Social Media statistics such as Twitter followers and Facebook likes. While those are certainly measurable aspects of your Social Media plan, they shouldn’t be the only measure of success.

And this is where marketers fail. They don’t understand how Social Media fits within the entire marketing plan. They treat it as just another media channel and try to force-fit traditional tactics and messages. While Social Media can certainly employ traditional tactics, it should only be done when it fits the objective. For example, the Children’s Museum booth offered information brochures about membership – a traditional print tactic, used in a social engagement.

Marketers who strictly use Social Media to broadcast promotional messages are missing the point. More of the same is not necessarily better. Consumers will tune these messages out faster through Social Media channels because they are simply not social in nature. Social Media is an online conversation of sorts.

Let’s use an example: If a group of friends were conversing at a cocktail party and a person representing a popular fast food restaurant interrupted the conversation by announcing a new sandwich, my guess is that the stranger would be met with strange looks and the message would not be well received. And after a few more attempts, the fast food rep would be ushered from the party. Same with Social Media. People use Social Media to be social, so as a marketer you have to meet your consumers on these terms.

Traditional media is different. I’ll watch commercials on TV, because as a consumer I understand that’s how I get to view the programming. It’s an exchange. But through Social Media channels, I’m there to have fun. To relate to other humans as humans… if you want to market to me using Social Media, you better do it in a social manner.

So how do marketers achieve Social Media success? My advice is to think of your Social Media plan as a booth at a community fair, just like that of the Children’s Museum. If you hosted a tent, what would you offer? Samples, advice, tips, activities, customer support? Consider how your company can align with the theme of the event. The Children’s Museum offered a painting activity for kids because the event itself was all about art. The museum is about fostering imagination and creativity, so it was a perfect fit. Not all venues or events are a perfect fit. Same with Social Media. Not all Social Media tactics are applicable; so don’t feel the need to shoehorn them into your plan. If you can’t figure out how Facebook will work in your plan, leave it out.

Once you’ve planned your booth then try to convert those tactics to the online world. If you offered an activity involving your product, how could that activity be converted to an online tool? Perhaps it’s a custom Facebook application? If you would use your booth opportunity to address consumer questions, then how can you convert this experience to the web? Again, it’s all about engaging the consumer with what they are interested in, not with what you are interested in.

Ultimately, if you cannot put together a cohesive plan for hosting a booth at a community event, then chances are you have no business marketing through Social Media. Save your money. And don’t feel bad. Social Media is not for every company. Just as certain traditional advertising tactics may not apply to your marketing objectives, Social Media may not apply either.

But for those companies that feel Social Media has a place in the marketing mix, there are other factors to consider. Those companies who have reaped the most success from Social Media benefit from several things; the most important is leadership support. Successful Social Media plans are supported from top down. If you need to convince hesitant leadership, you may be in for a difficult journey. It’s not to say it’s impossible, but certainly more difficult.

Lastly, Social Media requires constant attention. It’s ongoing and evolutionary. Unlike traditional media that you can broadcast on auto-pilot, Social Media requires continual involvement. That usually requires a dedicated staffer (or vendor) who will manage it all. It also usually requires a continual flow of new content – sometimes different from the content generated for mainstream media. All of this adds up to $. So be prepared to spend some money. People think Social Media is free, and that is a huge misconception. While there are Social Media tactics that have no cost in and of itself, there is a cost to manage it all.

So in a nutshell:

1. Determine audience(s)
2. Establish objectives
3. Create your plan (Plan your booth)
   • Solve audience problems
   • Decide how to fulfill content
   • Budget accordingly for staff and content
4. Establish deployment timeline
   • Initial
   • Ongoing
5. Evaluate & adapt

Remember, Social Media is not for every marketer. Sure it’s popular and some companies are using it successfully, but most are not. Most companies are using it as a platform for blasting out the same ol’ one-way messages… and while it is media, it’s certainly not social.