So Today...

Social media has given brands the ability to harness the power of large groups to spread the word about their products quickly. When a product is released, a discount is revealed, or an event introduced, a brand can now sit back and let their followers spread the word around in cyber space.

However, most brands are working on an integrated marketing level, where they are simultaneously launching TV, Print, Newspaper, and Magazine advertisements in conjunction with their online social media marketing campaigns. This causes some issues when a brand wants to assess the success of each individual marketing effort.

In order to properly assess where leads are coming from for a new product, brands should consciously put steps in place to gather data from their followers and new customers. This can be as simple as adding a ‘how’d you find us’ feature on the product purchase page, or as intense as developing custom IP address analytics and digging through data.

No matter what technique is used, it is important to implement a system to help determine lead generation. This will help marketers assess the potential of using social media to spread the word. Don’t forget, social media marketing, as with other forms of marketing, creates more touch points. What the customers do after they are exposed to your product is out of your control. Manage your touch points, measure your results. This will help you succeed in social media marketing.

So today… I thought about how managing more than one social media account can be beneficial and not so good for others. While most brands like to show their unique side and personality, most of them do not have somebody that is specifically covering their social media marketing.

Outsourcing your social media marketing is the probably the most efficient way to handle the situation, however there are a few problems the client can run in to. For example, if someone manages more than 2 or 3 accounts, how much of that content will sound the same? That all depends on the industry I think. While it is good to have someone covering one specific industry, I think it can also hurt them in certain ways.

If you have three clients that all talk about the same products, events, and news… how do you choose which client gets the best content first? You don’t. You have to treat each process like the other one doesn’t exist. The perk of staying in the same industry is evident. You understand where and what to look for online, you are able to connect with the right hashtags, and follow and link up with the right people. All these things alone can help the brand you are handling become a industry leader over time.

At the end of the day we have to be professional in what we do. Understand that the client is trying to accomplish something and carry that out. Whether it’s selling/promoting a product, event, or just their company. Ensure that the presence you are maintaining is always fresh, in the client’s best interest, and something that they would actually talk about.