Refuting C-suite perceptions about social media risks
Posted by dna 13 on Thu, Dec 10, 2009
For those of us in the public relations industry who actualize our communications programs through online conversations and engagement, it's easy to describe the merits of a social media campaign.
Online advocacy, if launched and managed correctly, tends to create more lasting, sustainable, loyal relationships than traditional media campaigns. Social media initiatives often cost less than most marketing campaigns, and they are an excellent way to create meaningful, original content in a marketplace where traditional media placement opportunities are disappearing left and right.
Nonetheless, one of the roles of the c-suite is to identify the potential downfalls of social media -- along with any budget line item.
The best way to illustrate the value of social media to the suits upstairs is to be able to identify and defend the downsides, along with strategies to fill in gaps left by social media tools.
Here is our list of the shortcomings of social media -- shocking, we know -- and ways to counteract those problems:
NEGATIVE: "Social media campaigns are too risky."
The public defines what content will "rise to the top" of the online conversation, so they hold power over the popularity of any single campaign. It's more likely for a one-time, six-week social media campaign to flop than for a six-week public relations initiative - what if nobody notices?
RESPONSE: "Social media engagement is more successful in the long run than PR campaigns."
Social media is less effective when constrained by a short timetable. Instead, allocate just a few resources to a long-term listening program that eventually evolves into an online conversation - see Tom Smith's article from earlier this year in Mashable. The same points (particularly point #4) apply today.
NEGATIVE: "The Internet is for consumer products, and that's not us ."
The most exciting social media campaigns tend to be consumer campaigns. For companies with B2B or B2G business models, the Internet should be left to Burger King, Coke, or TV shows.
RESPONSE: "Tell that to the destroyed printers from Expert Laser Services."
Relationships lead to B2B sales. Social media allows companies to make direct connections with clients and prospects by answering questions on LinkedIn, engaging customers on Twitter, or even using customers' ideas to make a better product. Social media engagement may have to be more targeted and goal-oriented for B2B companies than Coke, but that makes it no different than traditional media relations, where one hit in the right trade publication can be more rewarding than The New York Times. The Expert Laser Services campaign worked because ELS created a relationship with contestants based on a mutual disdain for broken technology.
NEGATIVE: "It's too easy for a social media campaign to backfire."
When a social media campaign fails, it can fail BIG - look at Microsoft's laughable online video advertising Windows 7 (we'd link to the parody videos, but most of them are NSFW).
RESPONSE: "That's why we listen first."
These social media campaigns failed for a reason - they didn't listen to their audiences before jumping into the conversation. Instead of blasting information for anyone to come across and mock, listen to what online communities have to say about your company first, and eventually respond to their questions.
NEGATIVE: "We don't have the manpower."
Social media can suck hours out of the day - from checking RSS feeds to Tweeting to writing blog posts and creating original content, social media is exhausting for those of us who do it for our jobs.
RESPONSE: "Our existing employees and our customers will be our brand advocates."
Employees are on Facebook anyway (particularly if they are part of Generation Y). Follow the Coke or Zappos model to set employee social media guidelines and encourage them to gather company followers - make social media engagement part of the corporate mentorship program. Encourage fans to draft their own content and invite industry leaders within your vertical to lead the conversation from your podium. It takes a village to raise a brand.