Social Media Strategy With a few comments on blogging

Agenda  5 axioms of social strategy  Bad reasons to do social  A “default” social strategy for retirement communities  Measuring success  Tips on developing your own strategy and plan  Conflict/reputation management  Brief comments on blogging and content strategy  Summary

5 axioms of social strategy Axiom: A statement or proposition that is regarded as being established, accepted, or self-evidently true

Axiom #1 All of your marketing activities must provide “positive ROI” – social media is no exception

Axiom #2 Epistemology =/= ontology

Axiom #3 Communicating with some people will yield dramatically higher ROIs than others

Axiom #4 Strategy involves ensuring “fit” between your chosen activities

Axiom #5 Taking into account your industry and market, there is a “default” (or “game theoretic”) strategy for social media

Bad reasons to participate in social media

Bad reason #1 To “go viral”

Bad reason #2 To drive traffic to your website

Bad reason #3 To drive conversions and generate new leads

Towards a “default” strategy (For retirement communities)

A potentially good reason to do social Branding  Helping create a sense of community  “Customer service”, but public

What this could look like Micro-blog of “residence news”, geared towards your current community (and particularly to the children of your residents)

On measuring success Be crystal clear on your strategy – on why you are doing social – and only then determine how to measure success

Problematic method #1 Community size  Number of “fans”, “followers”, etc

Problematic method #2 Pure “engagement” metrics  Shares, retweets, etc (Note: can work IF you are already following the default strategy)

Slightly more meaningful method Traffic and conversions  Sessions  Bounce rate  Time-on-site  Conversions  Pages-per-session (Note: still conflicts with default strategy)

Best method  Reactions from prospects  Offline feedback from children of current residents  Commenting and sharing (with the default strategy)  Look at all stats, but put them in context

Tips on developing your own strategy

Social planning  Decide how your online social community will be managed  Ensure participants are crystal clear on the strategy  Develop internal guidelines  Determine beforehand what success will look like

Conflict management

Protecting your reputation  Merely being on social will help your image, and provide protection when attacked  Having a genuine “core” of support on social will be a stronger defense than raw numbers  Tactics: respond quickly; move conversations offline to a private environment; close the loop online

Blogging and content strategy

Tips  Own your SERPs  Apply the same axioms  When blogging, pay particular attention to axiom #4, (finding fit between activities)  Understand the difference between a blog and your regular website  Use Google Analytics and CrazyEgg

Consumers blur the line between a product and an experience

Comfort Life - Ad Network

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