Tue, April 13, 2010 2:15 PM EDT

Do Facebook and Twitter Constitute a Social Media Campaign?

by Oliver McIntyre

Reading a post this morning on Twitter the author asked the question “when will the social media bubble burst?” So, I have decided to focus on the meaning of social media in this post. Firstly, let me say that there really is no cookie-cutter approach to social media marketing and, if they are going to build a successful network, clients really need to understand and define the strategy, road map, and budget first.

You really must start by understand what Social Media Is

Define the goals and objectives - SEO, PR, traffic (to drive awareness, advertising click-throughs, conversions are key) Understand the audience - where do they spend time now and why. The resources are also key – the internal team, or the agency you work with.

In my presentations I describe social media as multiple Internet marketing channels. It has the awesome ability to engage an audience in meaningful conversations about a brand, product, company or issue, and it’s viral. The social media-marketing umbrella includes sites that are both Web 2.0 and Web 1.0, and you want or need to be anywhere that enables discussions, sharing, and user-generated content (UGC), Blogs, Forums, Discussion Boards, Consumer Review Sites, Social Networks/Online Communities, Social Bookmarking Sites, Social News Sites, Social Music Sites, Video/Photo Sharing Sites, and of course Wikis.

Understand what Social Media Can & Can’t Do

With the right strategy, social media will engage your audience, encourage online conversations that are user-generated, increase your web presence, expand brand awareness, generate publicity (both good & bad) and provide significant SEO benefits.

It’s great for brand-building, relationship management, product development, reputation management, customer interaction, customer feedback, customer support, community-building, even defensive SEO, and by that I mean burying bad press with positive UGC.

But the mistake many companies continue to make is believing that Facebook and Twitter constitute a social media campaign. Before embarking out into the vast unknown, create your social media road map, and ensure that map relates and pertains to your business.

It’s paramount that the strategy includes blogger outreach & engagement as it is hugely important.

Start by identifying top blogs in the space and cultivate a relationship with as many of them as you can. Persuade them to blog about your proposition, why it’s cool, the issues, how it will change lives. You will also need a team of conversation agents to cover the blogosphere and engage in meaningful conversations wherever conversations are happening. Focus only on the communities that are relevant to your product, company, or topic.

Understand that social media marketing is most effective when users in the community know who you are, and the only way to do that is by making the investment in people that will manage your social web presence across key communities.

The emergence of social marketing in the past few years has given marketers and brand owners an unprecedented opportunity to engage in dialogue with their customers. No longer do we need traditional advertising as we now communicate in real time.

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