What Factors Make for a Successful Social Media Strategy?
This afternoon, I was sitting with some leaders in business, social and digital media and we were talking about what it takes for successful marketing. The overwhelming consensus was pretty simple, but you’d be surprised at how many companies struggle… where to start.
We shared stories of companies who didn’t understand their value proposition, but they were shopping for new sites. We shared stories of companies who didn’t have any sales and marketing alignment, and were unhappy with their marketing efforts. And of course, the issues overlap and echo in a social media strategy – where your gaps grow substantially in size and are heard by everyone.
Thank goodness that other marketers are thinking alike. If you look carefully at the Seven Success Factors of a Social Business Strategy from thought leaders Brian Solis and Charlene Li, it should become very obvious that you must develop a great foundation and strategy that’s built on and evolved.
The Seven Success Factors of Social Business Strategy
- Define the overall business goals.
- Establish the long-term vision.
- Ensure executive support.
- Define the strategy roadmap.
- Establish governance and guidelines.
- Secure staff, resources, and funding.
- Invest in technology platforms that evolve.
Too many times we watch clients struggle because they often start in the opposite direction… buying a solution, then figuring out what they need to run it, then scrambling for process, strategy and budget, and eventually figuring out what the goals and vision will be. Argh!
It’s also why we don’t come out of the gate declaring some platform that’s the best on the market. The range of features, benefits, difficulty and cost of social media tools should be analyzed and tailored to the business needs, resources and vision. It’s not uncommon for us to recommend different tools for similar companies after we analyze these factors.
Download Brian and Charlene’s ebook – The Seven Success Factors of Social Business Strategy for a thorough look at what it takes to develop a successful social media strategy.