You Are A Social Media Marketer (Almost)

Now for some good news: you don't have to rush out and hire a social media agency or team. Or even revamp your strategy very much. Most social media tools that work today in deep tech have analogues in the marketing work you've always done.

What's more, the last thing the industry needs are social media practices divorced from the rest of marketing. Each practice informs and enriches the other. At heart, social media tools and networks simply offer new ways to interact with your customers, prospects and other stakeholders — audiences you've been engaged with for a long time.

By tactically employing various social media tools for years, McBru has learned how to leverage what we already know about marketing communications (shown below as "Same"). You'll see how you already have a skill set to draw upon. At the same time, we point out how social media changes things ("New"). The key difference is this: social media opens up an intimacy and ongoing dialogue not found in traditional marketing communications.

1. Blogger relations

Blogger relations is very similar to media relations (both of which are part of the larger category we call "influencer relations"). Your company wants to develop a relationship with the bloggers that your audience reads, just like it does for influential publications.

Same: You can identify and categorize bloggers using the same search process you use to identify journalists and analysts. In some cases, they are the same individuals. You can categorize them in a similar manner, identifying their areas of expertise and influence.

New: First, special tools such as Technorati can give you more insight into the reach and influence of bloggers. Second, and more important, bloggers detest un-solicited pitches. The best approach takes time: start reading the blogger, enter useful comments, link to her blog from yours, and send her relevant information by email. You need to join the conversation, not butt in, before introducing your own agenda.

Example: For an IT industry client, McBru created a target list of influencers including journalists, analysts and bloggers. The dozen bloggers were carefully selected after a couple months of research and monitoring of a far larger list. Now, as our client posts announcements or issues on its blog, we approach these influencers respectfully, one-on-one, which is resulting in coverage on their blogs and links back to the client's.

2. Corporate blogging

Corporate blogging fits right in the heart of your content marketing strategy. For those unfamiliar with the term, content marketing recognizes that "delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action" (Wikipedia). You may already practice content marketing by, for example, using white papers, contributed articles or webinars to build awareness and establish a thought-leadership position.

A corporate blog is a natural foundation for content marketing. The blog platform and format makes it a snap to produce and distribute content. Plus you can link to each post in email newsletters, corporate home pages and other communications to amplify the blog's reach.

Same: Like a white paper or webinar, a corporate blog works best when it covers real issues and solutions that your audience cares about. Leave the selling to the demo. The agility of the blog, moreover, makes it possible for your content marketing to keep up with current, evolving events.

New: A blog is not a project with a delivery date. It's a channel for delivering a steady stream of information, interaction and entertainment. Luckily, the short length and ease of posting lower the barriers to a steady flow of ideas. Even more importantly, a corporate blog is a conversation platform. Your bloggers must be prepared to quickly respond to comments and challenges from readers. Such feedback is gold, just be ready to mine it.

Example: A provider of data-center software wanted to raise awareness of its expertise in working with Oracle databases. Seeing a dearth of discussion about this area of IT, McBru developed a blog strategy and managed the launch of a special blog for that client. Working with help and suggestions from McBru, the client's content expert had free hand on the content and tone of the blog, quickly becoming a recognized expert in the area. The blog had thousands of visitors, dozens of comments, and became the top reference in search engine results as well as the top referrer of traffic to the client's corporate web site.

3. Social media networks

Think of a social media network — anything from the general LinkedIn to the highly specific IBM developerWorks — as a location where a defined audience gathers for information and contacts. Event marketing via trade shows or technical conferences provides a frame of reference for engaging audiences on these networks.

When you go to a show, you have a tactical plan that may include a list of the employees you want to attend, the type of contacts you want to make, the sessions you want to attend, the presentations you want to make and how you want to follow up. You've planned for how you want to appear to customers, and how you want inquiries and questions answered. Well, use a similar process to enter a social network.

Same: Just like a trade show, you want to know first if your audience is going to be on the network for the right reasons. There may be many IT managers on Facebook, for example, but they do not use that service to exchange ideas about virtualization. Once you have found (or established) the appropriate network, help all your employees understand their roles, what expertise they should offer and how to field inquiries and questions. Train them to resolve issues on the spot, in context. Then encourage them to drop in and mingle, sharing some of their personal as well as business persona — just as they would in Las Vegas. (Well, maybe not everything they would share in Vegas.)

New: A social media network strategy is not limited to four days at the Mirage. You need to plan for an ongoing presence and continuous feedback. This is an advantage — unlike the blast of G2 you get from a big conference, the social media network can give you a persistent finger on the pulse of your market, and a chance to float new ideas and solve problems at any time.

Example: To support a client's award competition, McBru used LinkedIn to find a wide range of groups with strong connections to the client's industry. Based on our deep roots in the technical community, McBru was welcomed into these groups and able to contribute naturally. By posting announcements of the competition in appropriate areas within the groups, we drove a 15% increase in the number of submissions.

4. Microblogging

Microblogging — as embodied in the poster boy Twitter — is the new fast ramp into the social media world. It can be seen as a kind of hybrid between blogging and social networks. Making new connections, swapping snippets of conversation and sharing information are all important. But the 140-character limit fits neither content marketing nor event marketing very well. Instead, consider it an industry socializing service, not all that different from a networking event or reception. You meet new people, have brief conversations and learn new ideas that you can follow up on right away or later through another channel.

We want to tip our hat to Jon Reid for explaining how to make the best of the "cocktail party of simultaneous talking" aspect of Twitter.

Same: To remain the toast of the party, most pros mix a healthy dose of business with a smattering of current affairs and (hopefully) an occasional personal tweet for a human touch. You can meet new interesting people just by observing who else your acquaintances are listening to. You can allude to more substantial information existing at other sites, and maybe exchange a link (like you would a business card) to continue the conversation elsewhere.

New: At a party, no one is keeping a permanent record of your remarks, suitable for searching later. But on a microblogging service, be yourself on your best behavior. Check your spelling, your grammar and your links. Also, without body language to instill meaning, it is not a good idea to be too ironic or sarcastic — unless that is a big ingredient of your professional image.

Of course, like the other tools, you need to keep at it. A successful microblogging program will help you forge new relationships and your reputation for quality content.

Example: McBru has used Twitter to help increase readership of this very newsletter. By dropping a tweet about the more interesting contents, we've let many more people know about our interests and expertise. By linking back to the newsletter, we've substantially increased the number of people reading it. Maybe you're one of those, right now!

These four examples are only the beginning of how social media developments will augment marketing communications in the next few years. We'd be happy to share our experiences weaving the two together, and to hear about your adventures as well. Drop us a line.

Thanks for reading.

David Smith, Senior Copywriter
Jeff Hardison, Director of Business Development
McClenahan Bruer Communications

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