You have to Listen

Using social media for marketing throws up its own challenges. Heres one perspective looking at it from the customer's point of view. The first thing on his or her mind is yeah all thats fine but how do I measure return on investment? How do I know it works? What is the criteria for measuring success? How will I know that this is worth spending money over? The answer depends on what it is that he or she is looking for. Spreading brand awareness? Acquiring new customers? Converting customers? You can answer these questions if you know what social media marketing involves.

It all starts with listening. To your customers and potential customers. In traditional marketing this is called Market Research. You pay agencies to do this or you have an inhouse research department that carries out market research. They would do this either using surveys or using focus groups. Surveys would be aimed at a selected group of people and specific questions would be asked which would give you answers. Focus groups would involve a session with a selected group of people who you could keep asking questions and get answers from. In both these cases, you would get answers. You would not necessarily get insights. This is because you might not have been able to get a target audience that is necessarily representative or maybe you just didnt ask enough right questions. And here is where listening in the social media space makes a difference. Here you are not asking questions and getting answers. Rather you are listening to people talk to each other and in the process stand a much better chance of gaining insights from their conversations and comments than you would from direct question-answer sessions.

The next stage involves talking. This in a traditional context is marketing. Which is again a one-way outbound communication to your target audience using different media. In the social media context it would be more participating in and stimulating two-way conversation that your customers have with each other, and not merely what you have to say to them.

Sales - this would be the stage where you energize your audience and have them sell to each other. This is where once you have built up a loyal following of customers, they would then in turn advocate your product/services and bring in more customers so that your loyal following increases.

The support stage would be where you help these customers support each other. Again here the key is in enabling conversation amongst themselves to allow them to support each other along with help from your side. Finally the development process would also involve key customers who have become advocates of your products/services and include them in the development and design of new products/services.

The key to all of the above is being able to provide the necessary and relevant tools and platforms to your customers based on their social technographic profiles. Your objectives should be clear and based on this your strategies and selection of technologies should follow. Any approach to social media marketing necessarily should involve People, Objectives, Strategies and Technology. And in that order.

What are your views on social media marketing? Do you think it works? Take the poll shown alongside.