Social Media Strategy - An Updated Brainzooming Framework

It's always helpful when someone calls you on a good intention to make sure you actually follow through on it. When I spoke last month to the Transportation Marketing & Sales Association on social media strategy, the format allowed the audience to select from among 12 topics in the social media framework to customize the presentation to the social media strategy issues most relevant for them. To provide additional background on the social media strategic topics we didn't talk about, I promised to create a compilation of links that formed the backbone of the presentation's content. The full compilation has been on my to-do list ever since, and a very kind email from one of the TMSA attendees late last week prompted me to get it done!

My rationalization for the delay? The list now includes several posts written in the last two weeks (after the TMSA conference), including the post on who should create content that's generated so many rich comments here and nearly 6,000 page views in its first week on the Social Media Today blog as well.

OVERVIEW

• Shaq, Twitteronia, and Social Media Strategy in 140 Characters - The fundamentals of social media shared in 140 characters.
• Forrester Social Technographics Profile Tool - The ongoing work from Forrester that provides a starting point for understanding social networking participation among specific audiences.
• The Network Is Your Customer – David Rogers on 5 Strategy Implications  - New strategic opportunities businesses can capitalize on through addressing social networking.

STRATEGY

1. Integration

• 3 Crippling Disconnects in Social Media Strategy – A plea for a holistic, integrated perspective.
• There’s No Place like Home for the Holidays (or for a Successful Social Media Strategy) – Get your home page right first.
• 13 Warning Signs Your Organization Isn't Ready for Social Media - A checklist to determine how ready your organization is for a successful social presence.
• Social Media Mistakes You Shouldn't Be Making in Business-to-Business - Based on real-life examples, easy to correct mistakes business-to-business companies may be making.

 2. ROI

• “The 6 Social Media Metrics You Must Track” - Free download of the Brainzooming overview of the situations and metrics important for a successful implementation strategy.
• “The Social Media Crash of 2011″ with Author Jamie Turner (@60SecondTweets) – Author Jamie Turner on the importance of measurement.
• The Old Spice Guy is Sexy & the Smartest Player in Super Bowl Advertising – By Jeannie Chan - A guest post providing the background and results behind one of the most prominent social media campaigns to date.

3. Guidelines

• The World’s Simplest Social Media Policy – A guest post on nateriggs.com offering a policy nearly any organization can use to get started right away.
• Social Media Policy – Whats and Whens Behind Your Guidelines – Situations your guidelines should address.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

4. Listening

• Twitter Is a Waste? Your Social Networking Ladle Must Suck - Value comes from the right type of listening strategy.
• Social Media Monitoring Tools - A link to an infographic overview on free and paid monitoring tools.
• Slowing Twitter Down without a Fail Whale - The importance of social media listening tools to make sense of the conversations going on.
• @MallofAmerica Is All Over Social Media Listening – Yes, you can actively engage customers. Yes, you have to work at it. Yea, the Mall of America does it really well.

5. Building Relationships

• 26 Pieces of Advice for Dating and Social Media Success – Social networking starts with relationships, and there are clearly right and wrong ways to go about developing them.
• 16 Social Media Tactics for Building an Audience – Advice for taking a strategic approach to developing and interacting with an online audience.

6. Getting Noticed

• 10 Ways to Make Your Social Media Strategy Come Alive  - Basic questions to look for opportunities to get greater notice for your social media content.
• The Zero Moment of Truth – 7 Key Steps - An overview of the work Google has done on search activity before the customer even talks to you.
• Social Media When You're Starting Out - From a talk for freelance businesses, these steps are applicable to any emerging effort.
• Search Engine Optimization Strategy – Getting Smart on the Essentials - SEO is a vital part of getting your content marketing implementation noticed.

INFRASTRUCTURE

7. Platforms

• Social Media Is Like: Finding Strategic Connections - Different ways to consider how the various platforms could fit into your marketing mix.
• 2011 CMO's Guide to the Social Media Landscape - A quick, annually updated graphic showing the advantages and disadvantages of the most prominent platforms.

8. Time and Talent

• Collaborative Blogging – 7 Ways to Deliver Better Stories - The best stories come when the stories are coming from throughout your organization.
• Social Media Productivity – 13 Tips to Maximize Your Time - Make all your content work as hard for you as possible in multiple venues.
• 15 Ideas to Make Your DIY Social Media More Successful - If you have few people and a lot to do on social media, these ideas will help maximize your effort.
• 20 Strategies for Making Your Solo Social Media Effort More Successful - 20 more ideas to get the greatest impact from an efficient implementation. 

9. Minimizing Risk

• Is Your Social Media Intern Ready for Corporate Tweeting – 7 Questions to Find Out - A quick quiz to make sure you have the right people behind your content marketing creation and sharing.
• Brand Kidnappings and Social Networking – 5 Ways to Prepare - The best way to avoid a social media-based customer service debacle is to prepare for one to happen.
• See Me, Feel Me, Criticize Me – A way to better self-assess your online presence.

SOCIAL BUSINESS

10. Content Marketing

• Creating Intriguing Social Media Content – 3 Fundamental Steps  - It's not hard to create compelling content.
• Social Media Content Ideation: Think – Know – Do - A tremendously efficient way to generate hundreds of content marketing  ideas.
• 25 Creative Blog Post Ideas You Could Write Today - Nearly a month's worth of content marketing ideas in this one list. And you can repeat the list month after month.
• Content Marketing – Space It Out Over Time - Manage your content, your time, and the expectations you place on your audience.
• Who Is Creating Social Media Content in Your Organization? - Depending on what you want from your content marketing, you may have to settle or enlist various people within your organization to participate.

11. Customer Engagement

• 6 Strategies to Avoid with Your Social Network – Ideas from #SMCKC – No reason to make it harder than it has to be for your audience to interact with your brand online.
• Are Your Service Recovery Efforts Broadcast Worthy? – BP had 16 live underwater cameras on its service recovery effort. How many might you have when trying to fix a screw-up?
• Southwest Airlines Social Media Strategy – Lessons for All Organizations - Video and highlights of an in-depth discussion on the social media strategy Southwest Airlines uses to put itself at the top of the list of companies that "get" it.
• Social Media and Influencer Marketing  - Great take-aways from a panel of practitioners on engaging influencers in a meaningful way.
• Social Media and IRL Lessons from Chris Brogan - Getting your organization ready by tapping your customer service experts.

12. Innovation

• Brand Transparency in a Connected, Socially Networked World – Perspectives on online trends from Matt Anthony, the head of leading interactive agency, VML.
• Brooklyn Decker and Interactive Strategy from Esquire - A visually interesting use of QR codes and mobile to drive in-person customer engagement with a brand.
• Catalyzing Innovation Strategy with Social Networking – 10 More Ideas - Incorporate social networking as a way to spur innovation across your organization.

The Brainzooming Group helps make smart organizations more successful by rapidly expanding their strategic options and creating innovative plans they can efficiently implement. Email us at brainzooming@gmail.com or call 816-509-5320 to learn how we’ve developed  integrated social media strategy for other brands and can do the same for yours.