Where are we?
Brands and businesses of every sort are jumping all over social media, starting Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and blogs. Restaurants are experimenting with guerilla videos, Foursquare is blowing up, Groupon is worth over a billion dollars leveraging the group buying power inherent on the web.
It’s all happened very quickly. Just 7 months ago I was pitching clients who weren’t sold on the need for social media marketing. They were curious, they were interested but they were mostly just fishing. I complained then. I was ahead of the market I was serving. Most of my time was spending explaining and introducing social media rather than on creative ways to leverage it.
For the most part that has all changed.
I no longer have to do as many introductions, I don’t need to explain the various networks and the purpose they serve (Twitter for conversation, Facebook for size, Foursquare for location/ mobile). What I now have to do is help clients find the time, the bandwidth, in today’s parlance.
It isn’t easy. I’ve just ended a relationship with a client because they couldn’t find the time. There were lots of legitimate reasons why they couldn’t. One being that their business was so strong that they were confronted with the choice of whether to spend time social media or serving their customers. Honestly, I choose business over me anytime.
But this presents us with a new problem, albeit a positive one. If your business is so strong that you can’t serve both your current ones, and your futures ones, which is basically what social media marketing comes down to, than you need to hire. Most companies with the budgets have fallen upon community managers to do this.
What Does a Community Manager Do?
They are working from within your brand managing the Twitter account, penning, editing and uploading the blog posts and other content you are delivering, and generally synchronizing your brand across the social network channels you’ve chosen to employ. It’s a full-time job, and one that will be increasingly important moving forward. Because they’ll be the ones in your organization plugged into the conversation and trends developing online, they’ll need to be clued in to most of the creative decisions and directions. They’ll need to filter that into their work online.
Because for now, even the brands that have chosen to engage social media in earnest, the most dangerous thing they can do is get on, and then immediately flame out. Psychologically they’ll beat themselves up for not taking advantage of the opportunity that they themselves identified. I’ve watched clients commit to social media and watch it nearly immediately fall of their radar. Putting it back on, while making plans for web design, mobile strategy, and general marketing is nearly impossible. And then the business ends up resenting me! Cause I am the harbinger of all this guilt! It makes it that much harder to get referral business and to be spoken of in the terms
This is so not where I want to be with a client. So I’ve got to get on about making plans to help clients better understand the time commitments necessary to make social media work.
Image Source:RobeRt Vega on Flickr
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Ending a relationship with a client without achieving the results both parties hoped for is a disappointment, but it is not a failure. In today's (crazy, and yes I still think it's crazy) socially connected world, businesses have to absorb new opportunities in marketing and communications into their current strategy. Sure, maintaining a high standard for guest service is the first priority. Creating a positive experience for every individual who walks in the door is second to none. Now, we need to figure out how to conquer the latest tools to connect with new customers. For myself and others in the restaurant business, it may take some time to absorb this job or even better, come to the realization that a community manager as you described is necessary. So, the introduction to the many tasks at hand with twitter, foursquare, blogging, etc. is an important one. Then, the realization that you need to re-think your allocation of resources to effectively address these tasks is also an important step. So my friend, it's ok to reach this point with a (former) client if it helps to get them in the right direction. For you, it seems that you learned the value in helping a client understand up-front that they must apply the time and energy to get it done. If they can't, then they have at least gained the understanding that a change should be made to achieve the expected results.
Conclusion: a disappointment, but not a total failure.
Michelle
Thanks for coming by and adding your two cents. Its valuable to have your
voice. Obviously I wrote this piece as soon as I got home on
Wednesday, disappointed for sure, but understanding that this social media
thing is evolving. Business comes first, and while planning for the future
is important, it cannot come at the expense of today's customers.
I think you have laid the stages and now understand what kind of commitment
will be necessary for restaurants to really leverage the tools of social
media. When you decide to reengage you'll be all the better for it because
of the past month. You are already far ahead of your competitors.
Good luck and I'll be here learning, making mistakes and listening to my
clients' concerns.
Z
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