"Old School Marketing Rules"

In the olden days, the objective of marketing was to identify a need, then position your product or service to fulfill it. This was a time consuming and expensive process, involved a good deal of hit and miss, and often involved very expensive focus groups where small groups of consumers were asked what they thought of your product. They often lied. And most of the time they didn't know what they thought of your product.

Cut To Today

Millions of people are participating online. And sometimes they're talking about your product. Often times they are talking about their need for your product. It's a big opportunity for you to use the social networks to find out what your customers are saying about you - and to engage with them.

To do that, first you've got to find them (because they are all over the place). Then you've got to listen to what's being said. Then hatch a plan. And only then, get down with them. Engage with them where they are and how they are.

How Brightspark Can Help

We've been 'doing' social media 'stuff' for a couple of years.

Listen

It's important to listen to what's being said about your and your competitors online. If people are not talking about your brand or company name, then listen to their needs.

There are a variety of free online tools we can use to start listening. When we've been listening for a little while, we should be able to answer the question: what issues do we need to focus on?

Measure

We'll report back to you with the results of listening and together we will target some areas to engage in. It's important to agree on how to measure the results of this activity. Some social media measurement metrics we like to include are:

• Tracking the number of links on blogs and forums and bookmarking sites
• Measuring the number of actionable comments
• Tracking the number of fans and how active they are
• Measuring direct actions that lead to sales/enquiries/etc.

Engage

Reach out to your audience in the arena in which they are already participating. It may be Twitter, LinkedIn, Boards, Youtube, Facebook or any of the other social networking sites out there. Visit Mashable's guide to 350 social networking sites.

The good news is that it's easier in Ireland. We are more limited in the number of high traffic social sites out there. If your primary audience is in Ireland, it's quicker to get results.

Measure Again. Tweak. Keep Doing It.

Social media marketing is not something that should be embarked on without 100% commitment internally. It can be damaging to your reputation if you start something and then let it go. Proper resourcing and training is important to ensure that the listening and engaging continues. When you're getting results, it's easy to justify!

So - Are You Ready To Get Stuck In?

Contact us for an initial discussion. Then let's meet. And take it from there.