Joining the Conversation

Feel free to enter the Web 2.0 world slowly. When you Google “Twitter,” you get 615,000,000 search results. That can be overwhelming and believe me, for 140 characters, Twitter can be complicated! Start by creating accounts on the major sites; Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. There are two other popular social media sites that are optional but interesting; YouTube and Flickr. Firms are getting quite a bit of mileage out of those sites as well. Begin exploring and see what other firms are doing in these spaces. Get familiar with the medium and then build a plan.

When you make the decision to add social media to your marketing plan, the first thing you want to consider is who you are trying to influence. Who are you interested in communicating with? Who do you want to endorse or advance your brand out in cyberspace? I call these different groups your Social Media Marketing Centers of Influence and each one requires a different plan. (My next blog entry will focus on these Centers of Influence, so stay tuned!)

Incorporate your Social Media activities into your traditional marketing plan to build one cohesive strategic plan to both support and lead firm growth initiatives. This takes commitment from the partner team as their involvement is a key component to a successful social media campaign. Some may argue that it is best to have only one voice from a firm; I believe that it is better for many to participate in the dialogue as long as your brand is communicated appropriately. It is also a good idea, if many will be participating, that you train those involved on how to join the online conversation and promote your brand effectively. Oh, and be sure to monitor everyone’s tweets to ensure compliance. You can’t always control what’s being said about your firm by outsiders but you can educate your staff as needed if you come across something inappropriate and not conducive to your firm’s culture or brand.

There are a lot of questions surrounding personal privacy and firm policies regarding social media. So far, I am unaware of a definitive answer or a standing policy that is being circulated; my best answer is to 1) educate your staff, 2) monitor conversations and 3) have conversations with staff when necessary as to how best to promote your firm’s brand online.

As far as cross-promotion goes, make sure your website, blog and eNewsletters all have the appropriate links for visitors to bookmark and add you to their social networks. All posted articles should have links allowing readers to post the articles to their social networking sites. This will increase interest from potential prospects who are outside your social network.

Finally, remember that Social Media Marketing is about connecting, engaging and building relationships with your firm’s Centers of Influence. It is a conversation or dialogue, not broadcast media or a monologue. I encourage you to join the Social Media scene now (if you haven’t already). There are two major benefits to joining the conversation; first, your firm will get greater visibility and promotion from your Centers of Influence and second, your marketing overhead will actually decrease because social media is FREE.