The Synaxis Keystone Marketing System provides a phased approach to the implementation, rollout, and operationalization of marketing measurement tools, web tools, and communications tools.
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Social Media As Part of a Marketing Strategy
About once a year the 'next great social media tool' emerges. The latest tool to be widely adopted is Twitter. Previously, it was Facebook. A couple of years ago, LinkedIn was all the rage.
In fact, they all still exist, successfully. As marketers, that begs a couple of burning questions:
- At what point is it acceptable to abandon or ignore a social media tool?
- When does it make sense to include a new social media tool as part of your social marketing strategy?
Business-friendly Social Media
It's clear that social media is here to stay as a tool for spreading the word about products and services. Facebook has worked hard over the last year trying to make the tool business-friendly, by creating fan pages and Facebook ads. Twitter seems to be business-friendly right out of the gate. LinkedIn was built for business. Each of these tools can be an integral part of a marketing strategy, but you must first determine which of the tools is right for your business.
Activity Translates to Participation
If your company currently has a presence on one of these sites, you should carefully review your participation in your company's pages or general activity on each of these sites to determine if they still warrant your attention. If the participation has declined, you might want to look at your promotion techniques. If you are going to have a presence, you should dedicate yourself to updating the information regularly. Are you 'tweeting' compelling content regularly? Are you posting offers, blog posts, or links often?
Another factor for decreased participation could be that your target market has moved on to another site—the 'hot, new' social media platform on the block. Social media users are far from brand loyal. If a new tool comes along that works better and is more interesting, they are more likely to switch the bulk of their attention to the new tool. They probably won't completely give up on the old tool (right away anyway), but they will spend less of their available time with it, thereby decreasing the possibility that they will pay any attention to your presence there.
Social Media Considerations
New social media tools seem to pop up all the time, but does it make sense to include them in your marketing strategy? There are several questions you should ask before considering them as a part of your marketing strategy:
- Who are the people that are using the tool?
- Are they your target?
- Does the tool gravitate to more personal, business, or a good mix?
As a general rule, B2B companies might want to stick with business-oriented tools, while B2C companies could thrive on personal social sites. There are some exceptions, however, as sites like Facebook and Twitter seem to have blurred the lines between business and personal social sites.
Basically, the rule is that there are no hard-and-fast rules. If you decide to include social media as part of your marketing strategy, you will need to dedicate resources and time to keeping it fresh. And, as with any other marketing initiative, you will need to assess it regularly to determine whether or not it's working and supporting your strategy.
