| At this point in the game, most companies that partake | | | | they are participating in Social Media, but not engaging. |
| in Digital Marketing have accepted the fact that Social | | | | The problem here is that engaging is what Social |
| Media must be a part of their overall strategy for | | | | Media is all about. This is not a hands-off initiative like |
| success, and are incorporating these efforts into their | | | | Search Engine Marketing, it is a personal and very |
| marketing plans. However, many of these companies | | | | human relationship. Using Social Media without engaging |
| are making the same mistakes with these efforts. | | | | is like keeping a Ferrari in first gear…you are not truly |
| Specifically, there is a conspicuous slack of ‘Social' | | | | experiencing what the medium has to offer. Marketers |
| in their Social Media efforts. The whole point of Social | | | | the world over must up-shift their Social Media efforts |
| Media is to facilitate people's desire to communicate | | | | and begin communicating with their audiences. If their |
| with one another. These communications are now able | | | | product or service is mentioned in a Social Media |
| to take place in real-time, among people from all | | | | outlet, whether in a negative or positive light, the |
| corners of the world. | | | | company should respond to the mention. If the |
| The raw power of Social Media is being displayed | | | | comment was negative, try to see if the issue is |
| daily, with shining examples including the solidarity | | | | solvable. If positive, nurture the relationship further by |
| shown during the Iranian elections and recent natural | | | | thanking them for being a loyal customer. |
| disasters where people have bandied together, shared | | | | Some companies prefer to keep their brand as more |
| information, and ultimately gone to the rescue of their | | | | of entity rather than putting a human face on it, and |
| fellow Social Media users. These are examples of | | | | this is perfectly reasonable. Still, this does not mean |
| how the ‘Social' in Social Media can make an | | | | that engagement should be ignored for the sake of |
| impact on the world, but how does it translate to the | | | | keeping the brand anonymous. Let's say the company |
| marketing environment? The answer is actually much | | | | in question in this particular case is Company X. Their |
| simpler than the tactics being used by many major | | | | Twitter name is ‘Company_X' and the company |
| businesses. | | | | prefers to keep announcements from this account to |
| To some companies, a simple presence on Social | | | | general communications and announcements. A Social |
| Media is enough for them to feel satisfied. They may | | | | Media specialist representing the company could be |
| have a Facebook page with a healthy amount of | | | | given a Twitter account name such as |
| subscribers/fans, and a Twitter account with several | | | | ‘Company_X_Outreach.' This account could be |
| thousand followers and feel that their efforts are being | | | | responsible for all direct communications between the |
| successful - and perhaps they are correct. Still, we | | | | brand and the public. The point here is that even when |
| must look closer at their execution in order to see | | | | there is a strong desire to protect the brand, there are |
| where they are lacking. Upon closer inspection we | | | | ways to keep lines of communication open, mutually |
| learn that the company's Twitter account is filled with | | | | active and thriving. With Social Media the channels for |
| simple, predictable tweets. They are posting news | | | | communication are given freely, but they must be |
| stories from highly trafficked pages, and re-tweeting | | | | properly used in order for them to have the desired |
| interesting stories. But, there is zero communication | | | | effect. Passive participation is better than nothing, but |
| between them and their customer and they are not | | | | pales in comparison to the incredible potential of active |
| responding to people who mention their brand. In short, | | | | engagement. |