tangyslice » getting started http://www.tangyslice.com sharp. social. accountable. Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:33:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Getting started with B2B social media http://www.tangyslice.com/2009/04/09/getting-started-with-b2b-social-media/ http://www.tangyslice.com/2009/04/09/getting-started-with-b2b-social-media/#comments Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:53:13 +0000 Frank http://www.tangyslice.com/?p=294 I spend so much time these days talking about social media that I sometimes forget that these are relatively new channels. The most common question I get these days is “how do I get started”?  Facebook? Twitter? Blogging?  I know it’s a cop out but the answer is a big “it depends”.  Without exactly answering [...]]]> I spend so much time these days talking about social media that I sometimes forget that these are relatively new channels. The most common question I get these days is “how do I get started”?  Facebook? Twitter? Blogging?  I know it’s a cop out but the answer is a big “it depends”.  Without exactly answering the question, here are a few things to consider when thinking about a social media program for a business that primarily serves other businesses (is B2B).

Your goals: What do you hope to achieve?  Is it about awareness building?  Maintaining relationships with existing customers?  Being a part of the general conversations about your brand?  Selling more product?

Your audience: Are they using social media? How frequently?  How big is your audience?

Level of engagement with your brand: How important is your product or service to your customers?  How interested are they in interacting with other customers?

Where they congregate online today: Which sites?  What level of technology adoption/comfort?

Internal drivers: Who will represent your company?  Who is using social media today? What is the commitment level from management/the organization?

Content: Who will seed the conversations?  Do you have content to share/syndicate?

Regulatory: Are there any compliance or regulatory issues to consider? Do you have an approval processes?

Resources: How much budget?  How many people will be involved?

Measurement: How will you know if you are successful? What are your KPIs?

Like the game of poker, social media takes minutes to learn and a lifetime to master.  There are many options and strategies.  As I have advocated in the past, the best way to identify the right media is test many, kill off the losers and scale up the winners.

Good luck and let me know if I missed any other things to consider.

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