Two Suggestions for Social Media Strategies

A friend of mine who runs a PR agency called me yesterday, asking for my thoughts on social media strategies. Here's what I told him.

In addition to all the standard advice—start a blog, comment on other people's blogs, participate in forums, communicate and collaborate with your customers online, etc.—remember that an effective social media strategy involves both online and offline work. The online work is fairly obvious (the aforementioned blogs, etc.). The offline work may not be obvious, but it's pretty simple. Go meet with the people in your online communities. Blog about topics, then go to events where people talk about those topics. Meet new people there, and continue the relationships online. Your customers and partners are real, walking, talking, full-blooded people, not just users who who filled out profiles on your site. Meet them face-to-face, and have conversations you would never have online. If you think social media means hunkering down in a cubicle, blogging, linking, and fine-tuning SEO, think again. Social media is about being social with other people, online and off. Budget for travel. Get your social media marketing manager out there at trade shows, in restaurants, in blogger's lounges, and at any other location where your community hangs out.

Second, as I've said before about growing communities in the open source world, you've got to both "do" and "show that you do." In other words, you've got to document all your community work. If you show up at an unconference attended by 250 people in Cambridge, chances are that 50 people at most will remember meeting you (maybe 100 or 200, if you're already a big name or especially vocal or you're the guy wearing the weird hat with the flashing lights—but do people really know that guy?). None of your prospective customers in St. Louis or Chicago or London will know you went there. So you need to blog about. Post photos on Flickr. Link. Document your sociability and your community involvement. That way, your community involvement will have a much broader reach.

Ever notice that social media pundits are always posting pictures of themselves drinking good burgundy or Belgian beer with their fellow social media pundits? Now you know why. (Besides the fact that they're just having fun. Which is a good idea, too. And good burgundies should be celebrated, I suppose.)

Now, if anyone out there would like to grab a beer and continue this discussion, just let me know.