2 Nuggets of social media gold

Need some thoughts on social media integration?  Yesterday Mark Smiciklas of Intersection Consulting published a post with an embeded video [see below] on Social Media Explorer.  The video addressed best practices for companies to follow as they look to integrate SocMed into their business.  

A fellow contributing author on SME, I’ve enjoyed Mark’s posts and deeply appreciate his visual thinking skills.  He has a talent for translating an idea or concept into a visual design that’s simple to grasp.  Don’t let the clean-looking infographics fool you; the concepts are still issues business and digital marketing professionals are trying to master.

The video Mark shared was a compilation of 19 of his idea designs, each prefaced by best-practice edicts like:

• “Understand the importance of strategy.  Tools and tactics are just the tip of the iceberg.”
• “Build a solid business infrastructure to support the weight of social media.
• “Interact first.  Sell second.”
• “Build relationships to help float campaigns, not the opposite.”
• “Embrace the new empowered customer.”

I believe they’re all spot on.  I’d also like to see a couple more “best practice” ideas explored (were I only as talented as Mark!), and I mentioned as much in my comments on his post.  While one or more of his existing infographics may imply these two ideas, their significance has deeper meaning and broader impact. These ideas should be brought to the surface lest they be missed.

More social media best practice ideas:

1. Flexibility – “Be nimble.  Adjust accordingly.”
2. Continual Improvement – “Do more than ‘be there’ in social media.  Fuel something.”

Flexibility has to do with how, when and why a business might deviate from a plotted course.  The overarching strategy would likely remain the same, but objectives and goals might be refined as a brand gains practical experience, learns more about their market, notices shifts in user habits, etc.  And if you had to fight hard to get your pet social media project approved by the C-Suite, be certain to have regular report milestones in place so that he/she stays informed of your efforts (we can hope it’s not simply a project, but…)

Continual improvement is simply a business imperative, made more real-time by the reach and immediacy of social media. Businesses have to be dedicated to turning disparate data sources into a cogent format.  Findings, while sometimes nebulous and often spanning a wide range of sentiments, have to be filtered and sifted.

What remains must be channeled somewhere to benefit some aspect of the business.  It could be product development, procurement, fulfillment, sales, training or service.  If your business just observes and collects social signals, it’s doing nothing more than lurking. Plus you risk being seen as a shadow puppet by your customers – they can see that nobody’s really home behind that Twitter handle.  That sound you heard while you simply observed? That was your credibility tanking. Your customers have the power.

Thanks again to Mark for his thought-provoking work.  Would you add any best practices to the list?