Social Media with Your Eyes Open

Given today’s business and social climate, recruiting, marketing, and even ecommerce efforts must now contain a particular blend of social authenticity and seamless technology. It’s not enough to simply “dabble,” at being authentic or technically advanced, your efforts must be Organic, Measurable, Mobile and Optimizable. Here’s what I mean:

• Organic and authentic – today’s audiences want to hear from ‘real people’, not public ombudsmen or corporate spokespeople. They want easily relatable stories by people just like them, who are members of the organization. They want an authentic referral. Nothing expresses that point better than COMPETE.COM’S side-by-side comparison of “epinions.com”, a site dedicated to user-submitted comments about products and services, and consumereports.com, the venerable institution of experts who scientifically test and report on each product. Epinions.com beats consumerreports.com by a multiple of FIFTEEN TIMES.

• Mobile – whether you’re a tween, Millennial, or just your average business person on-the-go, increasingly you’ve come to understand the importance of your cell phone. The number of ways to use an iPhone or BlackBerry has exploded with the proliferation of cell phone applications – a welcome tool kit for staying connected. Your efforts should capitalize on the power of mobile applications, before another organization similar to yours does.

• Measurable and meaningful – it’s easy to get caught up in the jargon and intrigue of social networking, yet the beauty of online activity is that it can be tracked and reported.

Yes, there’s a vast, exciting world of like-minded communities developing online right now. Of course, becoming a voice in those communities can be exciting and rewarding. However, a really important question should be asked first: “how will we know when we’re being successful?” The answer to that question should be found in detailed tracking reports that act as progress updates on the social media program. These reports should monitor variables that are meaningful to the organization – not to social networking gurus. For example, it’s nice to know that your community is growing, but how many members of that community can help advocate for your organization? Your reports should answer the tough questions such as:

1. How many are advocating for your organization?
2. Are they representing the organization accurately, or have they developed some other story?
3. Are some online ‘friends’ more important than others? If so, who are they, and how can their efforts be monitored so the organization can learn how to better attract similar people?
4. How much revenue is being collected?
5. How many new members or qualified leads have joined the organization?
6. What survey data has been collected to help the organization navigate changing times and roll out new offerings?

• Optimizable – Every social and/or mobile media campaign should deliver increasing results without expanding the budget. The lessons learned about your audience and how to attract them should allow you to become increasingly efficient while also garnering increasing results. In order for this process to happen, you must utilize detailed reports and a fluid feedback loop that allows you to quickly apply lessons learned.