When creating a social media campaign, one should ask themselves: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY and HOW.
WHO are your Centers of Influence?
Who are you interested in influencing and who do you want them to influence? Because those you choose to connect with will become your proponents in helping you advance your brand (brand = firm reputation and name recognition). Some of these groups are more likely to communicate with each other; such as your clients, prospects and referral sources and Universities, staff and VIP’s.
WHAT is your social media goal regarding your Centers of Influence?
Communication between your Centers of Influence should be your ultimate goal; each of these groups of influencers has a lot to teach and share with each other. Wouldn’t you like your clients and referral sources sharing your brand and singing your praises to your prospects?
WHERE will you find your Centers of Influence?
The top five social media sites/activities are Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. LinkedIn seems to be the medium of choice for professionals; however, Facebook is gaining momentum and is worth investigating. According to iStrategyLabs, as of 7/4/09, there were 18,102,320 users between the ages of 25-34 (a 60.8% increase in a 6 month period); 20,285,640 users between the ages of 35-54 (a 190.2% increase in a 6 month period); and 5,859,160 users over the age of 55 (a 513.7% increase in a 6 month period). So odds are if your Centers of Influence aren’t on Facebook yet, they will be soon! And don’t underestimate the value of the other social channels; firms are implementing all of these with great success.
WHEN should you connect with your Centers of Influence?
When should you blog, tweet and update your status or news feed? A savvy marketer will monitor their social network sites 24/7 (or at least several times a day, Mon-Fri). When you log in, your first order of business should be to scan the tweets or news feeds to see if you can comment on any of your Influencer’s postings. Then, if you have something of value to say, post your own tweets or news. Remember, the goal is to connect, engage and build relationships (aka friendships) with your Centers of Influence.
WHY should your firm use social media to connect with your Centers of Influence?
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.
HOW will you communicate your brand to your Centers of Influence?
There is a debate as to whether a firm should have one voice or many participating in the dialogue with your Centers of Influence. My opinion is to invite several key people from your firm to participate (and I don’t mean just partners; the 4th most viewed page on BCG & Company’s website is a series of blog postings from their high school interns sharing their experience at the firm). The key to success is deciding how you want to portray your brand (brand = firm reputation and name recognition) to your Centers of Influence and then educating/training your staff so that they may be a positive extension of your firm’s culture and brand.
