Direction – Orange SMS Consulting

Yesterday we discussed the First Step to Creating a Social Media Strategy is defining your audience. Ask yourself the question “Who is Your Audience?” so what do you think the next step is? Well first let me tell you about a recent Networking experience I had this evening. I met several people who saw my name tag which has my name, company name and “Social Media” on the badge. The first thing they ask is “what do I do?”. The second is always close to the same. “I just started or I am trying to build a Social Media Strategy and I just created a Facebook Page or Ning Site and set myself up on Twitter”. I always ask them the same question, Why? At this point I get puzzled looks. That is what the rest of the world considers a Social Media Strategy. A Facebook page or a Social Media Site that points back to their website. I have said several times, and will keep repeating that neither of the above examples constitute a Social Media Strategy.

It is not their fault. As I said before there are way too many Facebook and Twitter specialists out there stating how to use these two technologies, so people assume that in order to have a Social Media Strategy, you have to do both of these things. You may have to but not yet, not before you know for sure. How do you know well you find out who your audience is then you focus in on what you want them to do.

The second step to creating a Social Media Strategy is to decide on your Objective. Ask yourself the question “What do you want your audience to do? What is your Objective? So you might be asking yourself what is my Objective? Well the Business Dictionary defines objective as the following:

Mission, purpose or standard that can be reasonably achieved within the expected timeframe and with the available resources. In general, an objective is broader in scope than a goal, and may consist of several different goals. Objectives are the most basic planning tools underlying all planning and strategic activities. They serve as the basis for policy and performance appraisals, and act as the glue that binds the entire organization together.

So you can have a number of different objectives for your organization or business. In order to create a strong Social Media Strategy you need to determine the objective you wish to achieve with your audience. Meaning what do you want your audience to do. This could be as simple as “buy your product or service”, “join a community”, “participate in a cause” or “just know some information that may change their behavior”. Hopefully you get the point. The objective has to be clear in order for your Social Media Strategy to be clear. The objective determines the messaging.

The thing I find confusing about some “Social Media Strategies” is that they are not clear. Unless you are a restaurant, and you offer me $10 off on a meal, it’s hard to determine what you want the readers and followers to do. This is a vital step to determining your Social Media Strategy. It has to be precise and everyone involved in creating your Social Media Strategy needs to know what the objective or objectives are so there can be consistent messaging. Only you can determine what your objective/s are no one else can do it for you.

My objective for Orange SMS is to give people information about Social Media so they can make intelligent decisions when creating a Social Media Strategy. To see what other companies are doing and possibly what your competition is doing. Trends and information that can help my readers move into the Social Media realm and succeed.