You don’t have to turn your entire world on its head to adopt social media. It’s not about taking everything you’ve already done and chucking it wildly out the window in favor of a revolution.
Instead, look at your existing communications through a social lens. Instead of viewing them from a corporate perspective and projecting outward, investigate ways that you can take an existing outbound communication, and create a cycle with it that brings customers back to talk to you.
Here are a few examples of what I mean.
Your Collateral
Typically, your marketing pieces are all about touting the benefits and advantages of your company, service or product. On paper, it’s how you describe what you do and how you do it.
Try this: Make your collateral into an invitation for discussion and feedback. Go ahead, outline the benefits of your service. Then ask questions. Give your customers a way to respond to or make comments about what you’ve shown them. Ask your prospects to share with you what they look for in a company like yours. If you can, make that feedback mechanism visible to the community – say a forum on the website. Let your collateral be the catalyst, not a finite statement.
Media Releases
I like the idea of social media and optimized releases, possible by using services like PitchEngine or PRWeb. But at the very least, we know you’re putting your releases on your website. Most often, you’re probably parking them there with a link to a PDF file that folks can download.
Try this: Invest in the capability to make your news releases more like blog posts in your newsroom. Use open source software like WordPress that you can integrate into your press page, and post your releases there. Allow comments, and include plugins like Sociable or ShareThis that allow folks to Stumble, bookmark, email and otherwise share what they find. The key is to make it EASY for people to pass along the information. Today’s media releases are as much for your individual customers as they are journalists.
Your Email Newsletter
This seems obvious, but I mention it because I see it missed all the time. If you’re sending out a newsletter, don’t miss the opportunity to get a lot of traction from all the work you put into it.
Try this: Make subscribing to your newsletter ridiculously easy, and provide subscribers with archives. Give them a way to share the newsletter liberally. If you’re doing something cool like blogging already, don’t miss the opportunity to cross-pollinate by pointing folks from the newsletter to your blog and back again. Start a conversation or broach a new topic on the newsletter, and send people to your blog or forum to discuss it. Feature a case study in your newsletter, cross post it on the blog, and give your readers an opportunity to comment where it’s most comfortable for them.
Testimonials
Everyone loves to show off the nice things people have said about you. It’s fine and dandy to have a page on your website that has the comments you’ve asked people to make. But how about using a social bookmarking tool to help others find that news across the web?
Try this: In addition to putting static links on your press page about the coverage you get, use Delicious.com to bookmark them out on the web under a corporate account. If folks have blogged positively about your product or service, bookmark those too. Use Twitter Search or Social Mention to see if anyone has said that you rock, and bookmark those tweets. Then, include a link to your Delicious page on your website to let people click through and read for themselves what others are saying. (Bonus: if you’re really brave, instead of asking merely for a quote from your clients or customers, if they’ve got a blog, ask them to blog about their experience working with you instead, and share the link love.)
The key to all of the above is remembering that you want each piece of communication you put out into the world to not only be representative of your brand, but you want it to spark and facilitate interaction with the folks on the other end. Give them ways to talk to you. Lots of them. Include options for the traditionalists (like phone and email) and the plugged in (like blogs, forums, wikis, or even instant message or Twitter).
So what are you doing and experimenting with to get your existing practices to evolve more socially? What about your email campaigns or your webinars? Are you thinking in terms of dialogue instead of monologue? I’d love to learn more from you.
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Thank you, that’s an interesting article and gives me some ideas. I am just getting started with all of this and your steps make sense. I like things that make sense!
Thank you, that’s an interesting article and gives me some ideas. I am just getting started with all of this and your steps make sense. I like things that make sense!
I didn’t realize you can save the Tweets like that and then bookmark them the way you mentioned. that’s a cool smart idea I should implement once our userbase increases.
I didn’t realize you can save the Tweets like that and then bookmark them the way you mentioned. that’s a cool smart idea I should implement once our userbase increases.
Amber,
Great post! People often resist starting because the entire concept of Social Media is overwhelming. I appreciate the way you make it easy to understand and simple to do. Thank you!
Amber,
Great post! People often resist starting because the entire concept of Social Media is overwhelming. I appreciate the way you make it easy to understand and simple to do. Thank you!
Amber, I heart you for this. I was getting ready to start a proposal for a prospective client and wasn’t sure where to start… this helps HUGELY. Thanks!
Christa M. Millers last blog post..Webcams: the new Crime Watch
Amber, I heart you for this. I was getting ready to start a proposal for a prospective client and wasn’t sure where to start… this helps HUGELY. Thanks!
Christa M. Millers last blog post..Webcams: the new Crime Watch
We’re looking at how we can do something more interactive with our monthly newsletter, and we’ll use some of these ideas. Thanks.
@BarbChamberlain
We’re looking at how we can do something more interactive with our monthly newsletter, and we’ll use some of these ideas. Thanks.
@BarbChamberlain
Great practical information, Amber. Thank you!
Great practical information, Amber. Thank you!
Amber, Spot On. A business shouldn’t turn its world on its head to adopt social media. In fact if you has to, you probably shouldn’t do it. The answer is integration. It just fits in with what you do. Yes, it’s uncomfortable at first. But after a while it becomes part of your daily routine. You give good advice on getting your social media feet wet.
Jay Ehrets last blog post..Find the right benefit and raise your price.
Amber, Spot On. A business shouldn’t turn its world on its head to adopt social media. In fact if you has to, you probably shouldn’t do it. The answer is integration. It just fits in with what you do. Yes, it’s uncomfortable at first. But after a while it becomes part of your daily routine. You give good advice on getting your social media feet wet.
Jay Ehrets last blog post..Find the right benefit and raise your price.
Hey Amber,
This is hands down the best article yet on how to begin embracing social media. I’m sending the link to an organization I have worked with. Nice work.
Sean
Hey Amber,
This is hands down the best article yet on how to begin embracing social media. I’m sending the link to an organization I have worked with. Nice work.
Sean
This article was a joy to read.
This article was a joy to read.