Following on from the great post over at Headstream from Chief Digital Officer - Steve Sponder about brands need to adopt different mindsets, models, approaches and strategies. To help brands adapt to this change, myself and the team at Headstream have been working closely with Steve FivebyFive (Headstream is an agency of FivebyFive) to develop a Social Media Strategic Framework. This framework will enable brands to strategically navigate through, as opposed to just blindly rolling out the latest, must-have tactics.
Our Social Media Strategic Framework (SMSF) sets out a number of key areas for organsiations to consider:
1) Social Media Strategy - As organisations start to understand the far reaching implications of social media they quickly appreciate the need to define a social media strategy that mutually supports other strategies within the organisation.
2) Influencer Networks - Influencers will play different roles within different market-sectors, so the key here is to understand how to identify them, the role they play and how to engage with them.
3) Brand Outposts - Don’t just set-up a Twitter account because everyone’s doing it. Take a step back and think about how your outposts will support your social media strategy, who will run your outposts and where the content will come from?
4) Reputation Management - Arguably, real-time eavesdropping on what people are saying about your brand is one of the most immediate benefits of social media marketing although, conversely engaging in a negative conversation could escalate in a full blown crisis so again a clear separate strategy is required here.
5) Brands with something interesting, useful and/or relevant to say should be aiming to start conversations, using branded content as social currency. A distribution strategy will then ensure that engaging content has the best opportunity to kick-start a conversation.
In conclusion, the strategic intent should be for organisations to be an authentic part of the social media community and appropriate conversations, along the way there will be immediate, tangible results although like branding, social media is about the long-haul. It’s about systemically and consistently building the reputation of the brand where the pay-back is ultimately brand equity.
I hope that you find the Social Media Strategic Framework interesting and that it builds on, and continues, the conversation.
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Dan 08.19.09 at 8:14 am
I would argue that “brand outposts” and “influencer networks” should sit within the larger “social communities”, rather than being represented as separate entities in the diagram.
Tara 08.21.09 at 8:15 am
So looks like Headstream hit a winner in it’s “distribution strategy” with that nicely branded diagram you’ve posted.
I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a framework, but it certainly is a step in the right direction. What I’d really like to see is a map for how tactics from each one of these areas can (and can not) be used to increase: customer acquisition; conversion; retention; referral; revenues.
For example: customer support via Twitter can be used to increase retention. A natural byproduct might be an uptick in referral.
Cheers!
Tara
Ed 08.24.09 at 5:19 pm
This is an interesting / useful framework.
I like point 4 - Reputation Management - in particular. This would come under my particular ‘Listening’ social media strategy. By listening i don’t just mean what people are saying about brand (important as that is) but, also, using social media, in general, as a means of understanding people / the market-place / zeitgeist in general and, so on.
Ben 09.14.09 at 2:55 am
I agree, Ed. Listening may be the most important part of having a legitimate conversation. Otherwise, you’re just spouting propaganda.