PR Web Elite

Here are the 4 things I wish I had known before I first started on social media.

1. Who are you?
   Forget the elevator pitch. In the world of web 2.0 you need to pitch your business in 120 characters or less? To ensure consistency, especially if you have a team working on your social media strategy, figure out your pitch before you start implementing your strategy.
2. What’s your ideal outcome?
   Avoid running around like a headless chicken by planning your ideal outcomes first, and only then planning how to get there. The end result, your goals, should dictate how you get there, meaning your strategy should result from your goals and not vice versa.
3. How will you test whether your web 2.0 marketing works?
   Many believe that marketing with web 2.0 tools gets much better results than traditional marketing. You just don’t know until you test. Sure, you can base your entire strategy on case studies or expert advice - but the truth is every experience is different and you won’t know what applies to you if you don’t track your results.
4. Why will others want to connect with you?
   The reason that many businesses jump on to the social media marketing bandwagon is because “that’s where all the people are”. It’s true, a lot of people participate in social media, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to be interested in your business or brand.

If you’re going to be effective at planning your social media strategy, you need to work out how to engage customers before you start. You might provide incentives by giving away discounts or freebies, or you might have a loyalty program or give rewards for referrals. Whatever your plan, make sure you develop your marketing on social media (along with your goals, tactics and measurement plan) before you start jumping on the social media bandwagon. The last thing you want to happen is for your social media marketing to flop and wasting huge amounts of time and money on the project.