A Social Media Game Plan

The Mallett Group's tag line, "Putting Lasting Relationships First®", which we penned nearly fifteen years ago couldn't be more relevant today. Social media, which is all about relationships and bringing like-minded people together, is having a profound, and often unsettling, impact on the way companies and brands communicate with customers. Consumers in every age cohort are on social media sites every day, at all hours. To be heard and relevant, marketers must also be there to participate, but not control, the dialog.

Social media is also changing customer loyalty programs by allowing companies to listen to what customers are saying about their products and services in real time. Instead of reacting, we now have the ability to join the conversation, demonstrate that we are listening, solve problems, and say thank you to loyal customers.

Dave Raffaele, a former colleague, shared a customer experience with Jet Blue that demonstrates a best practices approach to using social media. On a Jet Blue flight from Boston to Denver the cabin temperature was 80 degrees. Arriving tired, damp, and angry Dave shot off this tweet.

"@JetBlue...you need to turn down the heat on your 7:55 flight from Boston to Denver. It was rough "

Less than two minutes later he got this reply.

"JetBlue Thanks for the heads up! (sometimes flight crews get over zealous going from cold to cold)"

It was a small thing but for Dave the fact that someone, a real person, was listening made a difference.

While it is safe to say we are all still learning how to maximize the value of social media, we are beginning to see proven best practices from forward thinking brands. Here are six that resonate with us.

1. Establish a Mission and Objectives. Identify the customer segment(s) you are trying to reach and establish what you want to accomplish with your social media program.
2. Develop an Editorial Strategy. Create a content strategy that reflects the information needs of the customer segments you are trying to reach. Keep the content simple, relevant and shareable. Strive to stimulate conversations.
3. Create a "Listen and Learn" Framework. Good listeners make the best conversationalists. Design a framework, and allocate resources that allow you to listen to conversations about your brand, program and service levels.
4. Establish a Conversation-Driven Work Flow and Decision Matrix. Based on what is being said, identify who should react and how they should react. Minimize ambiguity and provide company designated representatives with a well-defined path that will facilitate real-time engagement with customers and prospects.
5. Focus on Tonality and Timing. All the research indicates the timing and content of tweets and Facebook updates are directly correlated to the reach and level of engagement. Social media puts a premium on relevance, immediacy, and brevity.
6. Design Performance Metrics. Monitor how well your social media program is doing relative to your mission and objectives. Adopt a listen, learn and improve approach and make iterative improvements as required.

While the use of social media is still evolving, its rapid growth, across all consumer segments, has put marketers on notice. To be successful, brands and marketing teams must become experts in the use and proper management of social media channels and programs. Adopting the six best practices outlined above is a great first step.