The Social Media Marketing
Trick or “Tweet”

By Bernie Borges

 Risks in Social Media Marketing:

There are many benefits to a social media marketing strategy, most notably the awareness, relationship and brand building your business can achieve on the social web. All of these benefits are valuable and measurable. But, there are also many risks in social media marketing.

In this excerpt from my book Marketing 2.0, I discuss the risks to consider when launching a social media marketing strategy.

Having No Strategy. Perhaps the biggest risk in social media marketing, and one of the most common mistakes, is diving into social media without a strategy. Too often, companies jump on the bandwagon without first developing a plan. A social media marketing plan must begin with an objective, followed by a strategy and a list of tactics, as well as a definition of the resources, the budget, the tolerance for failure, a timeline, and measurement strategies.

Having the Wrong Strategy. A social media marketing strategy requires research, observing, listening, and planning in order to develop a plan that can succeed and be measured. Listen to your community and learn what is important to them. Define your objectives and plan your content including who will produce it, who will maintain it, who will measure its effect, and who will manage it. I am a strong advocate of diving into social media first as a listener.

Ignoring Social Media. I refer to this as “social media abstinence.” I often hear marketers say, “We don’t have time to devote to social media,” or, “We plan to get into social media somewhere down the road.” I assure you there are relevant conversations occurring on the social web right now in most industries, including yours. But if you are totally ignoring them, you are potentially ignoring threats and opportunities that are readily within your grasp today.

A Little Here and a Little There. If different people in your organization get involved in social media without a cohesive, planned approach, you could easily step on each other’s toes. Worse yet, you could cannibalize each other’s efforts, overlap each other, damage your brand, or simply miss out on the potential leverage of one plus one equals three. A cohesive strategy with division of labor is important to get meaningful results from a social media strategy, but this will only be effective if senior management is committed to the plan.

Bull in a China Shop. Another risk companies take is moving ahead full speed into a social media strategy, ending up doing too much too quickly, thereby creating negative results. Plan out the first ninety days, and roll it out with meticulous attention to details pertaining to staffing, content, listening, and measuring.

I Just Don’t Get It! A lack of understanding of the potential benefits of social media is a big risk. Organizations that understand the social, viral, and technological characteristics of social media have the greatest potential to achieve positive experiences. It doesn’t require a technical bent, as much as understanding the natural evolution of engaging people on the web.

No Top-Down Support. Understanding how to use social media to your company’s advantage starts at the top of your organization. It’s not totally necessary for the CEO to be active in social media for successful experiences. However, it is imperative that the CEO be supportive of any new social media initiative. Staffers can experiment with social media, but they risk getting embarrassed if something goes wrong and the CEO isn’t on board with the plan. In social media, you can’t do it right and stay anonymous. And if you screw up, the CEO can know about it in minutes.

Misallocation of Time and Resources. The single biggest objection I hear from marketers to using social media is, “We don’t have time for it.” Using social media as a viable platform for engaging your customers simply can’t be ignored. Not allocating adequate resources can yield poor results. I never said it wouldn’t require a commitment of time and resources. How much unproductive time are you allocating in your current marketing strategy? If you want success, just do it. Make a good thing happen.

Improper Measurement of Results. Measuring social media marketing results can include easily accessible analytics such as RSS subscribers, website traffic from social media sites, pages viewed, time spent on pages, time spent on the website, bounce rates, landing page conversions, as well as other well-known web marketing analytics. Many traditional web analytics can be applied to measuring social media marketing, but they are not always obvious to some marketers. Measuring the sentiment of your brand is also a terrific way to measure your results in social media.

Engaging with the Wrong Communities. I’ve stressed the importance of getting engaged in communities on the social web. One risk factor is getting involved in communities that may not align with your interests or value proposition. You should visit several online communities and spend some time in each before deciding if they are right for you. Study them to see if they are growing. Are the conversations relevant to what you offer? Are there influential thought leaders in these communities? Is there an opportunity for you to become a valuable member of these communities? Eventually, you will find online communities comprised of people whose interests are common to yours.

By understanding the risks in social media you can minimize mistakes and accelerate your success. Don’t allow the risks to prevent you from enjoying marketing success on the social web.

About the Author
Bernie Borges is the founder and president of Find and Convert, an Inbound Marketing agency specializing in search engine optimization and social media marketing strategies.  Bernie is a frequent speaker, blogger and podcaster on these topics and author of Marketing 2.0, a book about social media (inbound) marketing strategies.
More Information: Find and Convert