Since this is an online networking group, I’m sure the overwhelming answer to this a networking group for Internet execs, I’m sure the overwhelming response to this is “Yes!” (and rightfully so).  I’d even hazard a guess that most people, who hold any job title even remotely related to marketing, would agree too.  As would I.

When it comes to social media though, the answer isn’t as cut and dry. Yes you should have a Website, but do you need a MySpace page?  I’ve seen this come up a lot with both major multinational brands and small startups.  The question really isn’t if you should be online through social media channels, but why, how and where.

In a former life, I worked at a PR firm in NYC on a major consumer brand whose very well educated marketing director would constantly tell us “you need to build a program that makes our Website viral.”  This is around 2005 and no doubt, as “The Subservient Chicken” was garnering press from the mainstream to the ad trades, going viral was a big deal.  What Burger King with their campaign (http://www.subservientchicken.com/) was a big hit.  As many of us know, building a PR campaign designed to make an existing site “viral” and not building in elements to the site that people want to share, is easier commanded than executed.

Before going into brand surgery, we need to ask the hard questions first and get a clear diagnosis of the intended result.  As brand managers look to use for help to execute new campaigns online, it’s important that we (the we being any agency, internal manager or consultant) stress with our clients and team members what the goal is.  Obviously the easy answer is along the lines of building awareness and generating sales… but before we even begin thinking of ideas, pushing back on the how and why needs to happen first.

General Misconception: Going Online is Easy!
Yes, going online is easy.  Executing well takes quite a bit of effort though.

Last year we worked on a campaign for a major brand launching a new entertainment division.  Someone at a partner agency said that we should have a social network page, because they’re cheap and easy to put together.  I agreed with this person, but then countered “Who is going to manage it?”

Facebook fan pages don’t run themselves and without monitoring, a valuable tool could turn into a bathroom wall for disgruntled customers.  Getting back to my earlier thoughts on asking the hard questions first, when it comes to social media, unlike print or broadcast, you need to plan in advance for how you’re going to not just execute, but respond and engage as well.

Question: Why are you going online?
Let’s assume your brand or client has a website that’s interesting, but lacks interactivity such as a comment enabled blog.  Your colleagues or client may start pushing to expand your presence to places such as Twitter, Facebook or Social Vibe.  This expansion isn’t a bad idea at all, but drill down to the why before you charge forward blindly.

Are you launching a social network page to simply act as a place to promote new products or services?  Would you be looking to engage customers in a new manner?  Are you simply trying to build awareness?  Think about these questions and others before mapping out your online/social media strategy.  When you have a clear idea of the goals, it’ll be easier for all involved to focus on what’s important and how to execute.
Question:  How are you branching out?

A myriad of options exist for extending your brand’s or client’s footprint online.  If you’ve already dialed in the why, let’s ask about the how.

Executing marketing initiatives used to have a lot fewer variables.  Let’s take a print or outdoor campaign as an example.  You work with your agency or in-house team and have the creative, as well as buy, set up.  Then you execute and push forward to the next campaign.  I know I’m simplifying it, but there was a lot less interactivity with print and outdoor marketing.  When you’re building an interactive presence online, you need to decide how you’re going to manage it.

If your brand decides to develop a page on Facebook, what’s going to happen there?  Are you going to allow others to post whatever they want?  Likewise, what are you going to do with it?  Is someone interanally going to interact with those that join your page?  How often is it going to be updated and with what sort of content?  Who is going to manage this and do they need to run language through legal?  Are you going to actively pursue people online and engage them or just let people find your page on their own?

Question:  Where are you going online?
If we’ve answered the why and how, it’s time to decide where… and when.  I won’t go into the nuances of all the social media channels that are open to us (this post has been long enough already), but I will give some advice.

First, go squat.  If you haven’t already, register Facebook Fan pages, MySpace pages, Twitter accounts, etc., for your brand / clients.  Even if you don’t execute on them, squat them now before someone else does.  Of course, squatting another brand’s site is usually illegal and can be reversed in court, but do you really want to go through that and/or delay a campaign?

Second, start early.  We had a client that had said they wanted to engage on Facebook and Twitter, but then pulled back saying they didn’t want to extend the budget to make it happen.  Understood… budgets are tight, we’ll do more with less.  Unfortunately, about three months later, the client was offering a major consumer facing discount and wanted to announce it in one week via Twitter and Facebook.  We pushed back and the client said “But you said Twitter is an excellent tool for announcing promotions!”

The client was correct, we did say that.  However, we also said it’ll take time to build up a steady crew of Tweeples and fans, not to mention our presence online would have more authenticity if we’d been engaging people for the last three months prior to this promotion, instead of just announcing it one week after our Twitter and Facebook identities were setup.  If you’re not Ashton Kutcher (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30263363/), it’s difficult to secure a million followers overnight.  Could we have setup the profiles, made posts, engaged and asked for re-Tweets from our Tweeples?  Sure.  But we shouldn’t have had to… marketing, online and off, should be looked at as a marathon, not a sprint.

Ok Sandios readers, that’s it for me from now.  If you’d like to discuss ideas or bounce something off the team here, just drop me a line @ info @ bbpublicrelations dot com

I’ll see you in two weeks!

-Bill Byrne
BBPR, www.bbpublicrelations.com