Where to Start?

Obviously there are many out there that know the answer to this question. But for the average business the question is indeed important. Where do I start with my business in the Social Media mix? Unfortunately there is no short easy answer but one thing is for certain it is not wise to jump in the mix with no plan. You need to use Social Media as a integrated part of your marketing mix which leads us to another question that is not so easy to answer - What am I looking to accomplish with my marketing?

Social Media should be used to draw your customers into a conversation. What this conservation looks to obtain will depend mainly on what you are looking to accomplish with your overall marketing plan. Most businesses I would assume are looking to just connect with their customers with social media and figure it out from there. However if you want to manage your brand then you want to make sure that what you are saying on social networks is in line with your overall branding. Much like traditional media you need to know who your customers are and where they are spending their time. Once you find them the place to start is just to listen because unlike traditional media, social media allows us the ability to do just that – listen. Find out what they are saying and why they are saying it. From here you can devise a strategy to interject in the conversation and help shape how the conversation evolves. But be aware of the fact that you should spend more time listening then interjecting. It’s no longer about pushing a message to the consumer, it’s more about letting the customer help you craft and spread the message.