Guest: @AdamSinger. @AdamSinger is Digital Marketing Practice Director for LEWIS PR — http://t.co/HEecx6dK . He is a marketing industry speaker and blogger & social media PR strategist for B2B and B2C brands. @AdamSinger blogs on The Future Buzz (http://t.co/BkOFOvkF) with over 50k monthly readers.
Why should marketers set a social media strategy?
So, if you’re asking the “why” question in 2012, you’re in a lot of trouble. Most clients we talk to don’t ask that lately. But if you’re still wondering why you need any sort of digital strategy: the answer is, you won’t achieve outcomes without a plan.
Always have (defensible) data. Talk business metrics *in addition* to social (which are KPIs). Also, understand their business/brand. Everyone should get social by now. Differentiator in pitching is doing your HW. If you do deal with people who are really unconvinced about services, nurture …don’t try to push to sale immediately.
@smccollo: A great place to start for anyone new to @thefuturebuzz Most Popular Future Buzz Posts In 2011 http://t.co/hMZghRAv .
@ashbuckles: How have you seen most marketers approach social media differently in the last 6 months?
@adamsinger: Slowly but surely, yes! We are seeing marketers understand content, analytics and community a lot better. But I still think a lot of brands and marketers, particularly in social, haven’t gone through the process (http://t.co/hhf6jZ5c). Typically, we see brands who already understand SEO, PPC and email marketing very ready to embrace social channels. Easy jump. The problem is those companies who still treat their websites like they’re a “digital brochure” …sad …lots of education needed.
@ashbuckles: Do you think executives misunderstand social media because the proof isn’t in their language? Or something else?
@AdamSinger: I actually don’t think it’s a “social” problem. I think so many never bothered to understand the web.
@bryantdunivan: execs misunderstand SoMe because they don’t understand the younger generation and how its a trust factor.
@OptimizePrime: I don’t think execs get social until you can match up specific metrics with their biz goals.
@AdamSinger: yes, education is needed. Need to show business outcomes from ANY digital marketing. Never just KPIs. I actually think we have all the tools we need now to track successfully. It’s not so difficult!
@ashbuckles: Analytics and data providers are beginning to share the basics. The context is still missing though.
@ashbuckles: Data is abundant but understanding and tying together goals and initiatives requires a process.
@AdamSinger: Very much so! Agree KPIs and outcomes BEFORE you start. Get stakeholder buy-in. Work to increase them / refine your mix.
How does a marketer gauge the benefits of a social media investment?
Google Analytics for web / social, Sprout for Social, SEOmoz for social / search. Vocus / Radian6 for monitoring.
ROI calculations: here you go: http://t.co/aq4f1SRv — read @thebrandbuilder’s book. I will shamelessly plug @thebrandbuilder all day btw, he kind of rocks.
What is a proper balance of social media, SEO, PR, content development, etc.?
That is one of those “it depends” questions, but let’s try and break it down a bit. Get search, social and PR to work together! Your PR team should be building you links. Social team should be optimizing blog posts. The perfect balance of search, social, PR and content depends on objectives (lead gen focused? brand building / awareness?).
All of these areas now converge. To succeed, I would encourage marketers to broaden their skills: http://t.co/MI4TvXfQ . If you’re in PR and you don’t get how to create a piece of content that gets 1,000′s of shares, time to experiment.
If you’re in SEO and you have no idea what makes a compelling story, bother your PR and reporter buddies to learn. Socialize your keyword glossary to PR and social teams. No silos. We also share examples @thefuturebuzz all the time of our creative content experiments.
@BrettASnyder: What is your most out-of-the-box “experiment” you’ve run to get the shares?
@AdamSinger: Check out what our client @eloqua made: http://t.co/vvPaujr1 neat, right? …linkbait AND built social connections.
How should PR influence social media or vice versa?
PR and social plans need to synch up. Reporters ARE social (and are PEOPLE) …so should be a part of your community building. Ideally, you build a hub on the web for your brand (like a blog) which is subscribed to by reporters, bloggers & consumers. With your own publishing platform, you can go direct to your market (and reporters) who can react to your news. Also, embrace the notion that every company is a media company: http://t.co/pxjyMtn6 .
@OptimizePrime: What is your opinion/experience with HARO?
@AdamSinger: HARO is great …I think an SEO who learns the art of media relations would possess a truly dangerous weapon.
@markalves: SEO & marketing agencies often respond to HAR O inquiries, recognizing the opportunity for links & PR.
How should a marketer share links thru different social media channels?
Headlines. Draft awesome headlines when you publish, and then tweak them for each community. Don’t copy-paste the same thing into Google+, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit. If you do that, you’re a spammer. Add value / context. Also, ideally your community does most of the sharing, not you. For my most successful sites we barely have to share a thing. It takes several *years* (yes, years). But for some clients that now have a huge following their community does all the hard work.
@ashbuckles: Which social networks are your favorite to use? Personally? Professionally?
@AdamSinger: Depends on how much volume you have. Media sites naturally publish more. If you publish less, spread it out. I think brands need to test the waters for how much their community will consume / share.
@ashbuckles: Can you give an example of “testing the waters” for sharability?
@AdamSinger: Document activity in addition to results. Don’t just look at what you achieved, look at how you got there.
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