Viper Strategic

Manifesto for Social Media

Author: Jim Hardcastle

Jim has helped organisations and groups communicate more effectively for nearly 20 years. His background in the countryside and rural sectors provide him with a wealth of experience. Fueled by coffee with Post-Its at the ready, he’s here to help .

Here’s my manifesto on social media. I felt left out as everyone seems to be delivering manifesto’s at the moment. I delivered it at a seminar called Social Media: (Don’t) Just Do It on behalf of GWE Business West at the Bath Business Show today. Pleased to see it went down really well.

Here’s my manifesto in ten bite size chunks

1. Do your research. Who’s your target audience? How are they using social media? If they aren’t can you invite them in?
2. Think strategically. Why are you doing it? If the answer’s not clear, stop, make sure you do know why.
3. Know your business goals. Social media is just another advertising tool. It’s got to fit your overall plan.
4. Diarise some time. If you struggle to get around to updating your social media at the start, block some time out of your diary. It gets easier.
5. Remember to signpost. It’s called the ‘web’ for a reason. Don’t be afraid to direct people on to interesting stuff elsewhere. Search engines look for connections. Most importantly direct traffic to your website for the bigger story.
6. Invite comment. Lead from the front, even if you don’t feel like the expert in your field. Start discussions, ask questions. Be brave, become the media, put your thoughts out there.
7. Duplicate, duplicate, duplicate. A slight tweak to the tone and you can put the same text on all your social media.
8. Watch the competition. Stand still and the whole world will rush on by. Bye bye Bebo.
9. Monitor results and tune your message. Check the analytics of your site. Are paricular postings causing peaks of activity on your website and sales?
10. Remember the Rule of Thirds. A third about you, a third free stuff and then a third promotion of your products.

Agree? Disagree? Add your comments. I’ll discuss our secret weapon in another Blog soon. And for those who were at the show today, no, it’s not a shrew’s skull.

Follow me on Twitter, link with me on LinkedIn or become a friend on Facebook

- Posted on Wednesday 14 Apr 2010 at 18:49 by Jim Hardcastle

Tags: audience (33), business development (6), business goals (3), communication planning (21), digital (38), digital marketing (22), digital strategy (3), facebook (28), gwe business west (4), jim hardcastle (33), linkedin (11), online networking (2), online social networking (3), social media (33), social networking (13), strategic planning (3), twitter (24)