A Social Marketing Strategy

As discovered throughout the last 8 weeks, it seems rather obvious that a strategy is needed (by marketers) in order to use social media effectively. According to a May, 2010 study by Digital Brand Expressions, 52% of social marketers are operating “without a game plan,” similar to the 50% found in April 2010. The ones that do have a strategy, find that it does not address all of their concerns or fit their needs. (Wow!)

When respondents were asked what they thought should be part of their company’s plan, their answers had a somewhat different focus. While resource allocation was still top of mind, 71% were concerned with preparing and distributing policies for ongoing communications, such as how to respond to comments on social sites. Just 45% of companies had such policies.
Respondents were equally concerned with the ongoing monitoring of brand reputation, at 71%, but only 52% had a plan for such activities.

A majority of companies with a social strategy included marketing, PR and sales in their plans, but most respondents also thought that human resources and customer service should be added. Respondents agreed that, in general, responsibility for creating strategies should fall to marketing departments. What do you think?

Companies that have held back on adopting social media throughout their organizations could benefit from starting with a cohesive plan that involves all of the key groups within the organization. And for those that have already adopted a social channel - they should get all departments and employees on board with a complete strategy!