Unpacking Social Media Marketing

It's safe to say that social media marketing is here to stay. We're no longer talking about a fad. We're talking about another way people have learned to communicate with one another. And they communicate about everything from how they like their eggs cooked to much more serious issues.

And you can bet they're probably talking about your industry in some way too. The trouble is that it's hard to track where and how those conversations are taking place. And what you can expect from taking the time to engage in them.

According to social media gurus, Jason Falls and Erik Deckers, understanding what you're going to get out of anything, means you first have to have goals.

For example, getting on Facebook is not a goal. Getting on Facebook might be a good idea to accomplish another goal but it's not the end in and of itself. Fall and Deckers liken it to leaving for a family vacation without some pre-planning and a specific destination in mind. In the same way, if you don't take the time to access your social media goals, you might be racing down a highway to an unknown destination.

So what can you expect from your online publicity efforts? Falls and Deckers suggest seven possibilities:

• Enhance branding and awareness: taking a look at your brand from the eyes of your customers, not your own.
• Protect brand reputation: listening to online conversation and responding to negative claims
• Enhance public relations: build and maintain relationships with various audiences and publics
• Build community: developing an audience of consumers
• Enhance customer service: facilitating customer needs through proactive and reactive communication
• Facilitate research and development: generating ideas, fielding improvements, and researching
• Drive leads and sales: generating and driving leads and sales

Different tools will accomplish different results. Developing actionable goals will help you decide which ones will best serve your current marketing strategy.