April 02, 2019
I’ve had the privilege to work as a Social Media Marketer for some of the biggest brands on the planet. I have translated insights and key learnings (from working with McDonald’s, Samsung and Volkswagen) into a three-step ladder to help companies transform their social media strategy. Here are the basics of doing an audit and alignment that I introduce to my clients.
The first step for best practice contains six different parts: a clear workflow, a clear social purpose, the right platforms, modern media consumption, the right KPIs and measurement and community management.
Build a workflow
Many different departments within a company are using social media; the marketing department for campaigns and business growth, the corporate communications and public relations department for positioning and by the human resource department for recruiting and employer branding.
1) Define all the stakeholders that need social media.
2) Investigate if these stakeholders are using social media for achieving a goal connected to the organization and business.
3) Limit the workflow and the need for social to stakeholders who can work data-driven to prove their use of social media meets the goals for their specific needs.
4) Build in all the stakeholders needs in the plan for marketing.
Create a clear social purpose
Many companies started a social media channel without having a purpose that’s connected to their business and the cultural context around the company. The purpose has to align with business growth and have a cultural connection (science, pop culture, ideologies values, traditions, arts, sports, etc.) outside of the company.
1) Define what current business needs the social purpose is going to solve.
2) Define what consumer need the social purpose is going to solve.
3) Define what cultural context the social purpose is going to reflect and how.
The right platforms
Determine if you are using the right social platforms that align with the needs of your business goals with the right measurement tools:
1) Decide what specific features for you want for your desired platform.
2) Determine the audience you want to reach for achieving your business goals.
3) Define the platform you want to use based on the media consumption of the audience you want to reach.
4) Define what data the specific platform offers for measuring your business efficiency within the audience.
The global digital report is one tool I use for a broad and global perspective of social media consumption and the penetration of different platforms.
Modern media consumption
Mobile first has been a marketing mantra for years now. But the meaning of mobile first is continually shifting. The product development of Facebook, Instagram, IGTV WhatsApp and Youtube has been and is moving away from feeds towards Snapchat’s innovation of full screen vertical storytelling. Last year, Facebook’s former Chief Product Officer Chris Cox explained how the vertical formats are on a path to becoming the number one way to watch content. This means your creative assets need to be aligned with how people consume content on different platforms.
1) Communicate the options for channel distribution in the first brief.
2) Support the creative team with data on media consumption on different platforms.
3) Ensure that the creative idea is scalable and possible to adopt for social storytelling.
4) Create ideas for social.
5) Align the creative assets with the structure of the funnel.
6) Follow up with data on the media consumption of the creative assets.
The right KPIs & measurement
For each channel you need to find the right KPIs and find out what the specific possibilities are for measurement. Is there a possibility for measuring offline and online ROI together and in what way do you measure what platform the conversion comes from?
1) Define overall business KPIs.
2) Define platform KPIs.
3) Define the connection between the platform and business KPIs.
Community Management
The way brands use community management differs significantly. Many use it as their customer service. If executed correctly, it can be used both for answering the consumers’ questions, positioning the brand by using gifs and video content and also for valuable insights into the development of products, etc.
1) Continuously gather insights from your community and report these on a daily basis.
2) Identify the most commonly asked questions regarding your business and brand.
3) Create standard answers that position the brand and its vision.
4) Create a library of content that answers the question, positions the brand and its vision.
5) Set up a chatbot.
