Social Media Strategy - JenniferVanGrove.com

I spend a lot of time talking to C levels, business owners, and recognizable personalities about why making themselves available online—establishing a social media presence via sites like Twitter—is important to the bottom line. I talk about making their brand human and giving their customer community the opportunity to engage with them, I reference some of the same strategies I suggest in this post, and most importantly I tell them that they, not their PR company or their assistant, need to actually manage and update their online status. More often than not there is push back. Responses include, “I don’t have the time,” “Is there someone I can hire to do this?” or “Can’t I pay you to do it?”

The Doing Needs to Come From You

Any audience or customer community you do have doesn’t care about what your team has to say (unless it’s their unique point of view in their words and voice), your latest press release, or your brand new ad spot (unless your Apple). Please do not treat your blog readers, Facebook friends, and Twitter followers like your own personal marketing channels—the message doesn’t matter here, you do.

You matter.

What you’re doing matters. Who you’re doing it with matters. It’s what human that matters and what other people can relate to. If you fake it, you will be found out and you will ruin any credibility or influence you may have had with your fans, brand advocates, or customer community.

Some Advice to Britney that You Can Take to Heart

Gary Vaynerchuk says it best in his video directed to Britney Spears and her team regarding the @therealbritney Twitter account. The best takeaways are to remember that social media should not be used merely as another outlet for your message or press releases. Social media should be used for learning, sharing, listening, and genuine conversation.


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  • Rob

    Wow. This concept seems so obvious, yet as you (and Gary) point out is so often missed. In the rush to have a social media “presence” people and brands forget just what a presence actually is.

  • mikediliberto

    Great points about how at the core it is a personal thing, not (as so many companies treat it) just another version of the PR Newswire. Gary makes some great points in the video, most importantly that you can own the space if your make it real.

    What I have found in trying to define social media strategy is that you have visualize twitter and other social media outlets as merely tools which help you unleash the collective power of both your organization and your customer base. It's useless to tell a company to “use twitter” if, at the core, they are not open to sharing and learning from their people.

  • http://www.timjahn.com/blog/10/20/2008/are-you-having-conversation-with-your-customers-or-lecturing-them Tim Jahn | Media creator and integrator

    Are you having a conversation with your customers or lecturing them?…

    Standing at the customer service desk at Barnes & Noble yesterday, I noticed the marquee sign for the movie theater next door flashing something about Twitter. Something along the lines of "Do you Twitter?!?! Visit @kerasotes for coupons and d…

  • http://www.twitter.com/resawu teresawu

    I'm a student at UCSD, and I read a LOT of blogs about new media. Just wanted to say that yours is definitely among my favorites. Always informative and relevant. :)

  • http://twitter.com/violetmae violet

    Great post Jenn. I get this from people all the time and they just don't get it. As a new media consultant (or even interactive agencies), I think its perfectly ok to hold their hand while they learn and ultimately jump into a community. Maybe direct their tweets and help them with their blog- be a muse, so to speak but ultimately its up to the brand and company to be control of their online presence and their social web reputation.

  • http://twitter.com/violetmae violet

    Great post Jenn. I get this from people all the time and they just don't get it. As a new media consultant (or even interactive agencies), I think its perfectly ok to hold their hand while they learn and ultimately jump into a community. Maybe direct their tweets and help them with their blog- be a muse, so to speak but ultimately its up to the brand and company to be control of their online presence and their social web reputation.

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