Observations: A May 2011 Sensis report surveyed 803 Australian customers and 1,944 Australian businesses, found that while 62% of online Australians are avid social media users, only 14% of small businesses, 25% of medium-sized businesses and 50% of large businesses have a social media presence. While that rate of engagement is quite good, the quality and efficacy of each social media strategy will be highly variable. As a distinction this note differentiates social media from customer service.¹

User Behaviour: Understanding the online social ecosystem in terms of behaviour lays the groundwork of a social strategy.

• People can have multiple “personas” and multiple memberships of networks that represent social, business and personal networks. In other words the security setting pages cannot limit an identity and for organisations listing to the social networks differentiating the identities in a social network through fixed settings is a challenge.
• In social and business networks parts of the data can be tagged or published into a growing public or controlled private network of information sharing and collaboration. This means that data that constitutes the periphery of social and business networks and how they connect may be useful – but a caution as it may yield more data because data is generated cheaply.
• Sourcing for ideas rather than repositories on separate web sites dedicated to innovation portals is growing rapidly. The connections and social transactions are made through the data and tags between people.

In summary, the network connections and data in social media may be detected indirectly. For many Australian organisations that point is worth noting, even though at this time, the volume of data will be quite small.

To get started with social media the best route is to test and then test again. Testing sets the parameters in order to evaluate assumptions and to clarify abilities to move into social media and finally to set up the metrics that will be used to see if and how it works. Do not abandon efforts that have worked even partially, as they may grow over time. It’s a complex interaction, a multi-level dialogue with users. What seems to be a pattern over three months may dissipate in the next six months.

Strategic Cornerstones

• Identify the Audience: Review the demographic and “technographic” details. That is, how they connect and with what range of devices. While secondary research may inform what general direction you may want to go in, there is primary research may be more applicable to certain groups, viz. professional associations.

• Set Objectives and Measurement: Set objectives based on a clear understanding of how social media changes the feedback loop between your organisation and other types of stakeholders. While data can be collected and viewed easily, be sure that it has a purpose and it’s not there as a panacea to conceal an unsure strategy.

  • What are the measurable objectives?

  • What hard data points or metrics are used to track objectives?

  • What is the tracking frequency?

  • Consider systems and tools set up to track efficiently.

  • What is the methodology to use hard data and qualitative data as the project unfolds?

• Sentiment/Reputation Goals: Improving reputation is a long haul and may not yield quick results. Being consistently involved in discussions on topics or aggregating information that are relevant to the organisation will be necessary and then setting policies about the level of involvement and how to engage is also required.

Techniques and Tools

• Responsive Feedback loops:

  • Technology: What tactics and tools best support the objectives and are aligned to the targeted audience? What tactics and tools can be implemented?

  • Listening and Learning: Monitoring what stakeholders are saying about the organisation, the specific issue, or programmes and using the information to support the overall communication and engagement goals.

• Build Relationships: Interacting with audiences on the social media channel in order to build awareness for the organisation’s brand. Raising the visibility and the quality of interaction in the right areas and being salient to others through active interaction.

• Integration: Social media should support other components of the online strategy. Social media does not have to be in perfect harmony with the Web strategy but it must support the objectives established for the web site and outbound communications.

• Outbound Communication As with point 6, the ‘push’ forms of marketing should support the social media efforts. Email marketing in the form of newsletters should have CRM and email distribution software to manage the process. The element also includes search engine optimisation strategy and, if appropriate, search engine advertising.

Judging the success of the first steps of a social media customer service strategy is contingent on if and how often it’s used and not whether it’s all good news, that is if customers say good things about the brand. And give it time because it will take up to a year to really work with customers, and for them to realise that the company is serious about this and it works. After all, many customers have mixed memories of online promise and that collective scepticism is carried forward so each initiative like social media must work to maintain confidence.

Next Steps: In the first year of establishing a social media strategy, it is highly likely that the strategy will be revised at least twice. That is inevitable as the market and the usage changes rapidly. Be prepared to revise all the steps outlined above and accept changes too.