Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, SEO – Which one is right for you?
The question is formed in many different ways. I get it all the time. What is the best social media or social network for me to use? Which ones will my clients respond best to? Should I use social media or invest in search engine optimization?
These are the wrong questions. Lets use a guerrilla analogy: What’s the best weapon for combat? The answer is: You need more than one weapon, you need multiple weapons, multiple approaches and a lot of redundancy and back-up.
Lets step back from “social media marketing” and talk about marketing. We know that the best marketing campaigns use a variety of media and messages. BMW doesn’t just use billboards, they use e-mail, micro-sites, online video, direct mail and also encourage user generated content on some of their more social sites. Starbucks is much the same.
The message here is this:
Stop falling in love with social media tools, start falling in love with your customer
Starbucks, BMW, Ford, Comcast and many other successful social media marketers are customer engagement focused. They surround their customers online with multiple opportunities from multiple media to learn, connect and engage. It takes time, frequency of contact and a lot value added interactions to become top of mind with your customer.
EngagementDB.com a project by Altimeter Group and WetPaint studied the web’s top brands and looked at the impact of using multiple media and channels versus being a one-weapon marketer. Without exception the brands that used multiple media and channels had greater and faster engagement levels. These brands also happened to be more profitable than the others. This is probably not due to social media use but the fact that they are progressive and strategic at all levels in their businesses.
Here’s your take-away:
- Fall in love with your customer, interact with them in multiple channels and add value. Focus on them, not the tools.
- Have an over reaching plan and goal that drives your content creation and interaction
- Use all of your social media tools, search marketing and offline marketing in tandem and with the same focus.
- Stay on message, stay consistent, and continually engage
What are your thoughts on this? Have you found that multiple media helps you engage faster and more effectively?
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