A really interesting article that I think states most uniquely and succinctly the execution of a social media strategy (and believe me I have been researching recently), something that just says it all to me and will be of great benefit to justify a budget portion to social media as many marketers are these days as well as the justification for ongoing commitment.
Whilst this article is from the iMedia Breakthrough Summit in March 2009 (yes people as far back as that!) the message is simple and relevant.
It is vital that we encourage our potential and existing customers to play in our backyard by offering them our own branded tools and forums for social media play and experimentation, that way we can at least participate equally. The best part about it all is what we will find out about our brand…exciting times, not all good I am sure, but feedback is feedback and this brand is hungry!
So, as reported by Matt Kapko from the iMedia Connection Breakthrough Summit Keynote with Tom Bedeccare & Lars Bastholm of AKQA…
“…Bastholm then broke into what he calls the six rules for social media use:
- Look at any marketing effort as the beginning of a conversation.
- Closely monitor the conversation and be ready to respond to consumers.
- Provide consumers with tools that help them carry on the conversation for you.
- Leave room for consumers to interact; make sure your creative universe is big enough that there are unexplored areas.
- The conversation is over when the consumers say it is, not when the media plan for the budget says it is.
- Listen and learn from the feedback loop.”
You can read the full article here at iMedia Connection: AKQA’s 6 rules for social media.