Neoco

There’s no question that social media has passed its tipping point: Facebook has over 1/2 billion users; 10% of UK web users use Twitter; YouTube gets 2 billion hits a day… each week new milestones are reached. As social tools such as these have gained mass market acceptance, brands have naturally begun to use them in order to keep up with their customers and to reach the widest possible audience.

At first, social media tended to be lumped in with any other online or digital activity carried out by external agencies. As it gained momentum some agencies (including Neoco) began to specialise and to develop strategies and tools in order to best use these new methods of communication and to track and measure results. Gradually social media evolved into Social CRM as both brands and customers began to directly engage through these new two-way channels.

Unfortunately, as the tools have become more commonplace and the activity has become more familiar, so the work carried out by the specialists in social media has become devalued. Some firms are now choosing to move their social marketing fully in-house in reaction to budget cuts and a false sense of understanding – precisely because these tools are so widely used. A basic assumption is made that just because it’s easy to register and use sites such as Facebook and Twitter it’s easy to manage a brand’s social strategy. However, this is where the problems tend to begin. Firstly, in the majority of cases social is left in the hands of the marketing team’s most junior exec. There is a false sense of belief that the younger the person is, the more ‘in touch’ they are with all things Facebook. This makes no sense as the most inexperienced person is by definition most likely to make a mistake and in social media, that mistake could be broadcast globally within minutes.

The next common mistake is to launch into social media without any sort of long-term strategy or agenda. Without a defined goal it is impossible to put in place KPIs or other means to measure success or failure along the way. With no way to tell if anything is actually working, brands often become too tactical and forget the two-way nature of social in favour of trying to steer or control the conversation. In addition, the lack of planning often means that companies have not thought about the tone they want to adopt or set out clear guidelines for how they interact online. Online communities quickly see through brands which are trying too hard or don’t engage honestly with users and this can soon lead to further problems.

Once things do go wrong, in-house teams are often left floundering, unequipped to deal with the wide new range of potential conflicts and issues. This is the point at which the prior lack of planning can be devastating and brands can find themselves reacting overly strongly to the slightest perceived threat or criticism. Naturally this tends to make situations worse and minor mistakes can quickly escalate.

This isn’t to say that in-house teams don’t have a role to play – of course they do. They have the knowledge and the long-term planning for the brand which is key to making any strategic decisions. Social CRM is a specialised field though, and it’s important to recognise that outside experience is required to make it work and to avoid the pitfalls. It’s also important to understand that it is a continuous process building relationships and not a one-off plan to get more contacts.

At Neoco we help our clients define their Social CRM strategies right from the beginning. We help them at the initial stages of high-level planning and thinking to make sure that they are clear about their online goals and how to achieve them. Once these goals are in place we help the client to find an appropriate tone of voice and to set out the brand guidelines which will determine how and what to respond to. We can also help to train in-house resources so that moderation can be carried out by the client directly. We make sure that content is relevant and up to date to help foster two-way communications and we help to create special online activities which will keep customers engaged. Finally we track and measure the results, making sure that the client’s goal is reached and making changes where necessary. When this is over… we start again, looking at the results from the previous campaign and setting new Social CRM goals and targets. As campaigns evolve, so do client relationships with their customers, but this can only be truly achieved with the correct skills and knowledge.

Tags  content digital marketing digital thinking social CRM social crm strategy social media strategy