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Integrate Social Media with your Traditional Marketing Strategy

Text by April Williams 

May 2008

As 2008 progresses, marketers can clearly see that the abundance of emerging technologies and the fragmentation of media outlets have completely changed the way consumers interact in the marketplace. While many are ready and willing to jump on the new technology bandwagon using social media as a strategy, it must be used as a part of an overall integrated marketing strategy to really get results.

The Social Media Culture

This integration of social media with an existing marketing plan is one of the methods many companies are using to successfully embrace the Social Media culture. The new culture represents the second generation of the internet, which enables consumers with no specialized technical knowledge to self-publish materials such as text, audio, video, photos, and a variety of other types of output. In this new realm of media, the internet has become a platform for self expression, education, and advocacy. Enter the realm of user generated content.

To react to this trend, businesses must think globally about the multi-channel environment customers are exposed to, and the multitude of touch-points consumers leverage when interacting with a company’s brand. The key to integrated marketing success in the social media world is understanding how various communications tools can sync together and help move a customer through the product lifecycle.

Why Social Media?

In 2006 Time magazine declared “You” and the user generated content boom as its person of the year. Further emphasizing that, social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are growing at an unprecedented rate. A whopping 1,600,000 new blogs are created each day, yielding a measured 18.6 blog posts per second. The proliferation of blogs, online video, and other social media technologies shows us that consumers are getting involved and sharing their brand experiences with their peers.

The sharing of these experiences may be more valuable than the actual experiences themselves. Social media allows for a two-way conversation with a consumer, not to mention valuable word of mouth recommendations. The power of business generated messaging is quickly shifting to consumer generated messaging.

Social media can complement traditional marketing strategies to funnel in users really looking to engage with your brand. Once exposed to your traditional marketing efforts, these users could then begin interacting with your brand on a personal, one to one level, through social media calls to action such as “check out our blog” or “tune into our podcast”.

Here’s what you can do to integrate social media into your strategy:

• Get to know social media before jumping into it. Understand the communities and participate before you begin trying to market your business so you have an idea of what to do and how to do it. Check out MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn.
• Use a blog search engine, like Google’s blog search, Icerocket, or Blog Pulse. These can help you discover who is talking about the topics that relate to your business, as well as provide analysis and reports on daily blog activity.
• Above all, be transparent and visible. You should never mask your company’s identity when participating in a social network – a sure way to turn off potential customers. If you respond to a blog about your brand, or about your particular line of business, use good ‘netiquette’ and be upfront about who you are.
• Join and keep an eye on social networks that directly relate to your business, as they are representative of your consumer base. For instance, if you own a yoga studio, you might want to seek out a local group of yoga enthusiasts online. Chances are they are talking about you. If you find online conversations about your brand, join in or listen carefully, as this can be a great primary research tool. (But again, be transparent.)
• Understand where your customers are online. Search around a bit, as most social media users participate in more than one community. Someone who is really interested in a particular topic, like independent film, may be a part of a film community. That same person probably has a MySpace or Facebook profile as well.
• Align your social media message with your overall marketing strategy. Your message should be consistent, and whether a customer is exposed to a direct mail piece, a radio ad, or your company blog, the overall effect should reinforce your marketing strategy. If you want customers to know that your brand is the premium product, your ads and social media efforts should reflect that.
• Listen to your consumers, as the open dialogue creates much potential for consumer insight. Smaller niche networks, such as communities of travelers or dog lovers, can create a highly targeted and relevant audience, and should always be on your radar if they apply to your brand.
• Watch out for the risks. Using a site like MySpace isn’t always a good idea. Keep in mind that consumers might form opinions about you based on the people with whom you associate. Also, since social media lends itself to openness and uncensored comments, your adversaries are just as likely as your fans to post their comments on your social network.

You may be thinking about measurability and ROI…

Due to the open nature of social media, results may be difficult to measure, but the insight garnered from having a candid dialogue with your consumers and the ability to use this insight to plan integrated marketing strategies creates a stronger, more effective approach.

It is clear that as social media evolves, so does marketing, and the process of monitoring, sharing and influencing web content. A tremendous opportunity exists to get your business into online conversations. Be sure to put social media opportunities on your radar for 2008, and you’ll see how integrating social media with traditional marketing tactics can add great value to your business.

April Williams is the president and visionary of North Star Marketing, a full-service marketing and PR firm located in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.