Is this a fad? a buzz word? Whatever happens right now, it’s a fact that communication strategies are evolving rapidly and consumers are leading that game. You’re probably asked to consider doing a thing on Facebook and another cool Twitter or blog.
Well… as any other communication-marketing campaign you will need clear objectives and a clear strategic vision. I mean… on a long term, because social media “things” don’t happen overnight. They’re long term conversations, engagement, movements around your brand. Not “campaigns” per say.
Another reality we’re all facing is how do we finance these things? I believe this should be financed from the media buy envelop. However, this could be discussed as it also relates to PR and brand awareness. But should this come from the web department? When actually it doesn’t directly rely to the website but more from the “online presence”… in other words, the brand communication strategy outside of the website (what we call the “ecosystem”).
That article about how Unilever considers doing social media is interesting as they consider it playing “a role underneath everything we’re doing.” They work from the notion of an “earned” media on top of everything else you do. But still classified as a media.
If you start by having clear objectives, a good next step would be to set up KPIs and the tools needed to track and monitor results, this will help you figure out how you could finance it. But whatever happens, it’s not a one-shot investment, it’s to be considered as a monthly fee, a “maintenance” fee that can include: community management, original content creation, monitoring and reporting. Without monitoring and content creation it might be very complicated to attribute a tangible value and ROI to it.
My two cents :)
Post by Isabelle Quevilly, Sep 22nd
Tags: budget, social media campaign
