Social Media Marketing: Four Steps to Social Media Marketing Success

Companies that appropriately engage in these four steps will take their product or service to the top. About | Blog | Forums | Search Marketing Topics | Ratings & Stats | View Online SEW Experts   Social Media Marketing

Four Steps to Social Media Marketing Success  SEW EXPERTS: SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING By Erik Qualman, SEW, Oct 19, 2009 Columns  |  Contact Erik  |  Biography Whether you're a business or an individual, you must wrestle with many complex issues for social media. These can often be overwhelming. Where to even begin? Rather than be paralyzed, it's often best to understand that there are four simple, yet critical, steps to social media: It's easiest to think of it as a stairway, and the diagram is laid out as such. If you learn anything from this column, it's that you need to take that first step. It's also the most important one. As showcased in the diagram, the four steps are: Listen to your customer and conversations around your brand. Interact -- join the conversation. React -- Adjust your product or service based on feedback. Sell. Companies often enter the social media fray and jump straight to step four, selling. This is the worst thing you can do, and it won't be effective. You need to start with step one, which is listening. Without listening, the other three steps won't achieve any degree of success. As many have said before me (including Li Evans), there's a reason we have two ears and one mouth. Notice in the diagram that the steps for the customer than happen in the reverse order of the company. This is huge. It's these steps that the customer takes within social media that give an exponential return (good or bad). If it makes it easier to grasp, you can consider these steps 5, 6, 7, 8. This is where the magic can really happen. Listen: The customer buys the product service from the selling company. The customer's first step is to listen for what to expect from the product or service (important expectation setting here). What is the value that will be delivered? This also may involve reading instructions or a manual. Interact: The customer will then interact with their new product or service. React: During or after this interaction, the customer will react according to their experience (good/neutral/bad). Sell: The consumer's reaction to the product or service will determine if they sell for or against (the company/product). Keep in mind if it's a negative reaction you still have a chance to correct the situation by interacting and reacting. That's the beauty of social media. As a company, if you appropriately engage in the four steps, then the stairs in the diagram act more like an escalator (pun intended) rather than a traditional stairway. It will create a positively circular motion, which, with the appropriate greasing (effort), will continue to take your product or service to the top. And that is the true beauty of Socialnomics. Some of the best strategies in social media are often the simplest. » Print this article   » E-mail a colleague   » Post a comment Biography Erik Qualman is the Global Vice President of Online Marketing for EF Education, headquartered in Lucerne, Switzerland. With more than 26,000 employees in 53 countries, EF Education is the world's largest private educator. His book "Socialnomics: How Social Media has changed the way we live and do business" was released from Wiley Publishing in August 2009. Qualman is a frequently requested speaker within the Internet and marketing community and also maintains a social media blog at www.socialnomics.net. Qualman has been highlighted in numerous publications, including: BusinessWeek, AdvertisingAge, USA Today, Forbes, PR Week, Investor's Business Daily, eWeek, Media Life, Direct Marketing News and Direct Response Magazine. He has also been interviewed on various radio and television outlets. Qualman is also a published fiction author. Prior to joining EF Education, Qualman helped grow the online marketing and eBusiness functions of Cadillac & Pontiac (1994-97), AT&T (1998-2000), Yahoo (2000-03), EarthLink (2003-05) and Travelzoo (2005-08). Qualman holds a BA from Michigan State University and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin. He was also first team Academic All-Big Ten in basketball at Michigan State and still finds time to follow his beloved Spartans. » Contact Erik Qualman Article Archives by Erik Qualman: » Four Steps to Social Media Marketing Success - October 19, 2009 » Is Google a Social Media Company? - October 5, 2009 » Will Social Media Drive a Web Without Walls? - September 21, 2009 » Social Media for B2B - September 7, 2009 » Socialnomics: It's a People Driven Economy, Stupid. - August 24, 2009 » Social Media: Fad or Revolution? - August 10, 2009 » More Articles by Erik Qualman Top Jobs » Surveyors needed Corey, Canapary & Galanis , United States » Sr. Brand Manager Capital One Richmond, United States » Interactive Producer Hollister, Inc. Boston, United States » Social Media Specialist American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Durham, United States White Papers

Send us Feedback | Technical Questions or Bug Reports | Legal Notices, Licensing, Reprints & Permissions | Privacy Policy To unsubscribe, sign up for other newsletters or to change your e-mail address: Update Your Profile Incisive Media Plc. 120 Broadway, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10271 Incisive Interactive Marketing LLC. 2009 All rights reserved. Get a Free Email Marketing Demo All Search Engine Watch newsletters are sent from the domain "newsletters.clickz.com". When configuring e-mail or spam filter rules, please use this domain name rather than the sender address, which may vary.