with thanks to Lewis Carroll 
Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don’t much care where.
The Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.
Alice: …so long as I get somewhere.
The Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.
***
Although a robust social media strategy takes time and effort to be successful (and both of these are quite valuable), it does not have the hard cost associated with traditional marketing. However this does not mean that you should approach your plan haphazardly. In fact, I would recommend that use the same careful thoroughness that you spend planning the components that comprise the majority of your marketing budget.
Why? Because if you plan properly, and execute against your plan, you will create your company’s version of “brand nirvana”. Remember, your goal is to join the conversations, not push out information. Social media allows you to interact with your customers – to hear what is important to them – and then respond. It is this two-way communication that makes social media so powerful.
I cannot stress enough however, that social media is a two-way street. If you jump on Twitter and Facebook and continue your direct market strategies, you will not be successful. Just as people can turn the page to skip an ad in a magazine, or Tivo past a commercial on tv, they can filter you out of their social media sphere if they feel you are not listening and responding to their needs. If you engage with your customers so that they feel you really do care about what they want or need from your organization, you will see an increase in traffic, conversions, and retention – but it won’t happen overnight! Like relationships, natural conversations take time to evolve, and they must be nurtured regularly in order to thrive.
1) Begin with the end in mind:
determine what it is you want to accomplish (increase customer satisfaction/retention, lead generation, community goodwill, etc)
2) Plan to pay attention:
daily / weekly status monitoring plan (monthly is just too long!)
3) Determine how you will know you are successful:
metrics to assess progress and completion (don’t forget to baseline – where are you starting from)
A good list of starting points to get you heading down the right path can be found in this blog post by Mark Hayward.
If you keep these ideas in mind, you will find that while achieving your goals can still be hard sometimes, they won’t feel insurmountable because you have a plan of action.
Most importantly, you’ll not only know where you’re going – you’ll also know when you’ve arrived
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