situation (what is) target (what will be) proposal (how to get there)
TRANSCRIPT
Writing Your Social Media Marketing Plan
“[T]he third wave of social business will move from enabling the few …to mobilizing the many … to authentically engage at a personal and local level. After all, people buy from people, not companies.”
HBR, Clara Shih, 2014
Situation (what is) Target (what will be) Proposal (how to get there)
Framework
What is the business? Where is client presence today? Who are competitors? Who are the influencers? Who is the audience (and how did you make
this deduction)? What kind of content is being shared? What are the constraints?
Situation
Q: What is the business? For example, RR v transportation v experience good
A: In your personal project we asked you to think about what you want to be known for. Help clients think beyond the immediate product category.
Situation: positioning
Q: Where is client presence today? How effective?
A: I asked you to look at your existing channels and pick one (or two) to focus on for this 10 week period in your personal project; same process for group (client) project.
Conducting a social media audit, FB and Twitter.
Situation: your presence
Q: Who are competitors - what are they doing in these spaces?
A: Last week, we began identifying competitors (aka peers) for our group projects (clients), not unlike the process for individual projects. What are some of their successful SM campaigns?
See HBR, How to find competitive knowledge in social networks
Situation: competitors
Google/Bing competitor and client Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn search (and any
other channel that you might recommend) Search blogosphere and YouTubeUse SocialMention.com for location/genre search Topsy.com for real-time tweets/links Who are industry/regional thought leaders?
Situation: competitors
Q: Who are the influencers?
A: With Marshall Kirkpatrick next week, we’ll learn how Little Bird helps marketers find key influencers.
Once IDed, what do we do with them?
Situation: influencers
Q: Who is the audience (and how did you make this deduction)?
A: Each team will need to make assumptions that are clearly identified in report (unless you have data).
72% adults who went online used social media sites (2013)
Situation: audience
Q: What kind of content is currently being shared?
A: Analyze channels for current content patterns and types. Look for metrics on shares and interactions (engagement). Look for hashtags.
Situation: content
Q: What are the constraints?
A: Each client is resource-constrained, primarily by time and secondarily by budget and knowledge of the social media ecosystem.
Situation: constraints
What do you want to accomplish, such as◦ Grow audience◦ Engage audience◦ Demonstrate value
Real world: social media is a part of a larger marketing plan/effort (and we probably don’t get to pick these metrics).
Target
Download (e.g., white paper, coupon code)
In-bound email In-bound phone callsOnline purchasesRetail visitsSign up (RSS, for ex.)Web site visits
Engagement metricsCommentJoin communityLike (FB)Listen to podcastRecommend you (LI)RetweetShareUpload photo, videoWatch YouTube clip
Increase … FB friends n% recruiting hires n% sales n% Twitter followers n% web traffic n%
Success metricsNumber of …
@ replies comments (blog, FB,
LI) FB, LI shares Flickr views,
downloads forum posts leads retweets views on YouTube
“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the 100 other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.”
Steve Jobs in “What Makes Apple Golden,” Fortune, March 17, 2008.
What channels and why? What message/s and why? When/how often and why? What tools will you use to measure? How to create/find content on a time
budget? What policies/guidelines?
Proposal
Q: What channels and why?
A: Know the platforms. Recommend a ranked subset of channels with rationale and resource needs. All three clients have resource constraints. How should they balance their efforts?
Proposal: channels
Q: What message/s and why?
A: Use creative thinking to suggest topics as a way to experiment with audience connection.
Examples: recipes, menus, cocktails, events, quotes …
Proposal: messages
Q: When/how often, what and why?
A: Recommend a frequency as well as time of day. Back the recommendation up with data. Discuss images, links, videos, quips.
Proposal: frequency
Q: What tools will you use to measure?
A: Again, consider budget for tools to be zero. How can you help your client use analytics to judge “success” and be able to make course corrections?
Proposal: evaluation
Q: Where to find sharable content? How to create content when you have little time?
A: We’ve talked about content sources, and I’ve asked you to tweet class resources using our #uwsmc hashtag, which are collected on TagBoard and our blog.
How do we find sources for our clients?
Proposal: content
Q: What content tools to recommend?
A: Recommend filtering/aggregation tools as well as scheduling tools. But don’t just say “use XYZ,” show how it works with a story.
Build a sample editorial calendar.
Remember to include resources for self-directed training in the report (but probably not the preso.)
Proposal: content
Q: What recommended policies are needed?
A: Such as, examples of posts that are “thumbs up” and “thumbs down”; consider password/two-step authentication recommendations; consider discussion about libel/defamation. Basic copyright with explanation of Creative Commons and sources of images that are OK to share, use in blog posts. HBR, How not to unwittingly reveal company secrets & Answer these 4 questions before answering an angry tweet. In written report, probably not preso.
Proposal: policies
Sample worksheet
Higher level than report Still needs to contain all three components
(STP) Use visuals when you can (don’t emulate
this!) Use screen captures; try not to link to live
pages (you cannot count on the Internet and networks cooperating)
SM Marketing Plan Presentation
Title Page◦ Business name◦ Date◦ Team members
Executive Summary◦ One page maximum
SM Marketing Plan Components (1/4)
Situation◦ Current status of business in social◦ Comparison to peers/competitors◦ Audience/opportunities
Target◦ One or two key targets◦ Measurable, realistic
SM Marketing Plan Components (2/4)
Proposal◦ Initiatives per channel, followed by tactics◦ Initiatives are verb-based, e.g., build loyalty
among regular customers◦ Tactics may be channel-specific; important that
clients understand the need for content customized to the channel (not this)
◦ Recommended tools for managing content, measuring results
SM Marketing Plan Components (3/4)
Proposal, cont’d◦ Relevant content policy recommendations◦ Identify, acknowledge significant risks: what
might go wrong? Contingencies? What kind of impact would that have on the organization?
◦ Timeline with milestones (points to stop and assess)
Conclusion◦ Can be recap of executive summary
SM Marketing Plan Components (4/4)
Don’t confuse volume with quality: shorter generally trumps longer (it’s harder to write concisely but it’s kind to your audience)
Active voice not passive Run grammar check Remember this is a persuasive
presentation; use facts, data, emotion to drive home your points
Best practices in writing
Build awareness: customers have to know about the product to buy it
Expand distribution: customers have to find a product to buy it
Increase buying rate: create reasons for existing customers to buy more
Examples of initiatives (1/2)
Build penetration: gain new customers Increase loyalty: customers avoid the
competition Improve product quality: happier customers
buy more and tell their friends
Examples of initiatives (2/2)
Background to consider as you develop these plans
“The SWOT analysis is just a repository of thoughts about the business.”
AspireUp’s Roland JacobsQuoted by Tim Calkins in Breakthrough Marketing Plans (2012)
20% v 44%"At the C-Suite level,
they don't want to talk about social media because they don't
understand it.”HBR, What most companies don’t know
CDC, National Prevention Information Network
ChampionsWay Social Media Strategy Wyoming Entrepreneur
Examples