Outsourcing Social Media: "Go forth not blindly ..."

Business is serious about social media. So, we've naturally seen an uptick in mishandled social media situations.  How can you avoid being another poster child for Facebook faux pas or Twitter slips?  

Put the work in on the front end.  No excuses.  Learn about the media, create a strategy that integrates with your other programs (PR, direct, events, etc.), develop an operational plan, and work to help develop strong but reasonable policies and procedures for the organization at large.  Then and only the, you should consider outsourcing to a seasoned marketer who also happens to be knee deep in social media -- all social media.

If you don't know enough about the media to use it yourself, you shouldn't be messing with it for your business or client.  You also shouldn't expect that you'll be able to manage someone else who's messing with it.

Outsourcing in the name of focus on core competencies is Lean Business 101, Social Media in the name of reaching your actual market with relevant content, offers, and messages is both Green Marketing 101 and Marketing Communications 101.  But, when the two are combined and handed off to a third party with more expertise in Facebook than in business, well . . . all you get is this cartoon.  And, of course, a waste of budget and resources.

This gets to the question:  Which came first, the Strategy or the Tweet?  Social media presence with no integrated marketing strategy is just silly.

(BTW --I wish I was as clever as Tom Fishburne ... "Marketoons?" ... Brilliant!)

Enjoy Tom's talent, and have a great weekend!

Annuitizing Returns on Marketing Investment

ALTERNATE TITLE:   "Let's Wipe Out Marketing ADD in Our Lifetime!"

A recent cartoon by Tom Fishburne, "Still on Facebook," bemoans the all-too-frequent assumption by some execs that social media programs have short-term durations. The gray-haired senior exec in this cartoon is shown asking,"Why are we still on Facebook? I thought that Social Media was last month's campaign." 

Great capture of another iconic moment in marketing.

But, then Tom contrasts social media with advertising in the accompanying blog posting. Hold on there cowboy! Here's where we diverge experientially.

The fact is, the same thing is true of any marketing program — even advertising. PR, direct, event marketing, and advertising all require ubiquitous and consistent implementation over time. 

Think of it simply as "Out of sight -- out of mind." Markets have short memories, so hit and run campaigns will yield equally fleeting results. 

On the other hand -- and this is important -- a sustained strategy that keeps your name and value prop in front of your market via well-targeted tactics/programs will begin to earn annuitizing returns before long. When this happens, each ensuing touch point carries greater and greater impact. Because your market has been sensitized to recognize your brand and register its characteristics by all the previous touch points.

We're not talking immediate gratification. We are talking about durable, powerful brand development for the long haul. The kind that significantly increase your valuation multipliers.

Tom suggests we stop thinking in terms of "campaigns" and start thinking of "commitments." This is good, but I like to take it one step further. Instead of talking about of Marketing budgets as "Expense," it is more accurate to refer to it as Investment. 

Then, don't be surprised when you see your Investment earning Returns. That's the key indicator that you and your team have your heads around effective marketing, and are executing well.

Check out Tom's blog and cartoons here, and have a great day:  still on facebook | Tom Fishburne: Marketoonist