Get onboard with social media

By Brian Gilbert

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Gilbert is vice president of Integrated Marketing for Hacker Group, Seattle. He is passionate about working through strategic, tactical and operational challenges to discover the breakthrough idea. In 1998, he co-founded NetReflector.com, an online market research and customer feedback company. Gilbert has extensive experience in high-tech product development and sales and marketing.

A few years ago, the demand from the big boss was "Get something viral going for us!"

Next came: "User-generated content! Everyone else is doing it! I want one of those."

There was a brief heyday for selling bling with logos on Second Life.

Some marketing ideas seem to catch on and work immediately: Think apps on iTunes. Some things look like the next big thing for years at a time. Mobile marketing has been on the cusp of greatness forever.

Now we're all curious about social media. Is Twitter this decade's CB radio fad? Will Facebook ever advertise anything besides alternatives to Botox treatments? Does everyone find their next job on LinkedIn now?

A practical plan for getting started
If you're thinking of dipping your toe in, here are a few ways to start.

1. If you haven't already, set up a personal account on a few popular sites to see what's going on.

2. Find some friends on Facebook and communicate. Follow 10 people on Twitter and get the sense of what happens there. If you lurk for a while, you'll see that Twitter is a lot like eavesdropping at a cocktail party. Facebook can be more like a reunion from every aspect of your life. High school friends, former colleagues, long-lost relatives . . . worlds collide there.

3. Read a few blogs and add some pertinent comments to the posts that interest you. It's all about participation.

4. Become a Facebook fan of a business you are interested in. Join a group. Add an app. Don't forget to look around and see if your company is named anywhere. If a group of disgruntled former employees has coalesced, you need to have a planned response.

5. Directly reply, known as “@reply," to a stranger who asks a question on Twitter and see what happens.

Once you have an idea of what's going on out there, it will be time to think about goals and make a real plan. Don't wait too long. It's not going to get any easier to jump in.

Moving ahead
When planning your future in social media, you need to consider several factors.

1. What are your goals? The purpose of the research above was to get an idea of the value companies are getting from participating in social media. Can your company get similar traction? What would look like success to you in three months, six months and a year?

2. Which media would be the most appropriate for your business? A Facebook page would make more sense for a soft drink marketer than a Medicare insurance provider. Your own blog gives you the opportunity to look like a thought leader if you're a business-to-business marketer. However, an entertainment-focused site, like Second Life, would probably be a waste of time.

3. What resources can you devote to developing content? Media costs may be minimal, but if you're truly "social" you need to invest time and energy. If you start a blog, you need to update it regularly or it will look abandoned and will be a mark against you in any prospect's book. If you begin a Facebook page, you have to provide content at least occasionally, or no one will return. If your last tweet was three months ago, no one will follow you.

4. Do you already have content that can serve double duty? Do you have video assets? Posting them on YouTube can bring you a new audience. If you write articles for a publication, you can also post them to your blog or send a tweet out asking followers to read them.

Your initial research will give you lots of ideas. And don't be afraid to ask for help. Other people in your company can help develop new ideas and content for you.

This is social, after all. There's no need to go it alone.

CA