Friday, September 24, 2010

10 Pitfalls to Avoid When Going Social

If you were to make a list of up-and-coming business trends, social media strategies would probably be near the top. Actually, scratch that "up-and-coming" part—social media is already here. However, thousands of companies are rushing headlong into the profile-creating, news-tweeting, blog-posting frenzy...only to find that their valiant efforts are not getting the results they had hoped. If you're looking for fans, followers, and friends to build a Social Nation around your business, don't panic, says Barry Libert. There is simple advice that will help businesses avoid the pitfalls and make a strong online impact.

"It's true: there are countless benefits to joining what I call the Social Nation revolution—but just like any strategy for growth, social media isn't foolproof," points out Libert, author of the new book Social Nation: How to Harness the Power of Social Media to Attract Customers, Motivate Employees, and Grow Your Business. "If you don't want your company's social strategy to fall flat, there are some guidelines you'll need to follow."

Libert knows what he's talking about. After all, he's the Chairman and CEO of Mzinga, a company that provides social software to businesses. Quite literally, it's his job to be social media savvy. And he's adamant that before you start building your own Social Nation, you need to have a well-researched game plan.

"When it comes to building a successful social network for your company, you need to understand that there's a lot of prep work to be done," he explains. "You can't just set up a Facebook profile for your company, tweet once or twice a day, and expect public interest in your company to shoot through the roof. Far from it, actually."

Think about it this way: if you were in charge of your company's booth at a trade show or conference, you wouldn't just slap your company's logo onto a piece of poster board, place your business cards on the table, and hope for the best, would you? Of course not. Yet that's exactly how some companies approach social media—and that's why so many of these initiatives fail.

"If you want to become a meaningful part of social conversations and interactions," explains Libert, "you've got to know who your target 'fan base' is, where they spend their time online, and what sorts of content and programming is valuable and relevant to them, and will foster their continued interest and participation. You also need to make sure you have the wherewithal to commit to growing and sustaining your Social Nation, and you've got to make sure that you have buy-in from within your company. And that's just for starters."

Sure, it may sound intimidating, but don't give up yet. Half the battle is knowing which mistakes not to make, and Libert, in the book Social Nation, is eager to share the top 10 social media pitfalls he's seen organizations fall victim to in the past. Read on to discover what they are:

Pitfall #1: Running a Social Nation like a traditional business. If you want to run a social company, you first need to understand that almost everything you do is a two-way street. That is to say, you're not going to prosper if your products and services are designed solely by folks on the inside. You need to embrace the perspectives and contributions of your employees, as well as those of customers and partners.

Pitfall #2: Underinvesting in social initiatives and abandoning them too soon. Understand that a Social Nation is organic—it won't materialize with a proverbial snap of the fingers. Early on, you'll need to invest a good deal of time, thought, and money in attracting fans and followers—and your efforts will need to be sustained. Only after you've built a firm foundation will your social network begin to sustain itself through participant contribution and recommendation.

Pitfall #3: Neglecting to find ways to encourage and inspire your Social Nation's followers and fans. When you stop to think about it, you'll realize that your fans and followers are essentially volunteering their time and energy to serve as developers, sounding boards, and advertisements for your company. So for goodness' sake, respect what they have to say and take their input to heart!

Pitfall #4: Relying on a "build-it-and-they-will-come" mentality. Ummm...you don't really think that launching a new website and firing off posts at various online networking hotspots will bring fans and followers flocking, do you? Of course not! To some extent—usually a large one—you'll need to purposefully reach out to potential community members and make it worth their while to accept your invitation.

Pitfall #5: Delaying the process of going social. Contrary to what you may wish, your company doesn't have the luxury of waiting until it's "convenient" to go social. Why? Well, you have competitors, right? And if you don't start gathering loyal followers and fans now, there's a good chance that some other company will woo them first.

Pitfall #6: Underestimating the power of a Social Nation. If you believe that social networking is just a window dressing that your company "needs" (but not really), then think again. Social media and community collaboration bring many benefits, including brand-building, customer loyalty and retention, cost reductions, improved productivity, and revenue growth.

Pitfall #7: Neglecting employees, partners, investors, or customers when building your Social Nation. Yes, set up a "focus group" of employees to serve as community leaders who will shepherd your company into the social networking world, but don't put all of the power in their hands. Social Nations are organic organizations, so the more people who are empowered to influence yours, the better.

Pitfall #8: Relying on traditional approaches when designing your Social Nation. A decade ago, you probably would have been horrified at the thought of releasing ideas and products into the hands of your customers before they were as complete as you could get them. With social networking, that monolithic approach is now becoming obsolete.

Pitfall #9: Developing your own social software and analytics solutions. You wouldn't dream of placing "remodeling the office" or "handling legal issues" in the Do It Yourself category, would you? Not too many would. Instead, you'd hire someone skilled in those areas. Do yourself a favor and use the same strategy when it comes to building your own Social Nation.

Pitfall #10: Getting caught without partners to help you succeed. Libert has alluded to this one before, but it bears specific emphasis: make sure that you truly treat your community members as partners, not just as fans or numbers. Yes, integrating into the social web (Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks) is key to your company's future success, but being connected to the social web is only a part of what you need to do. Shifting your business strategically, culturally, and operationally are key components to the equation.

What do you think?

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