Social media is a popular tool for start-ups and new businesses, it is easily accessible and quick to set-up and allow a brand to start talking immediately, although at the onset to few listeners.
Social media's potential which can go viral overnight with the right 'Tweet' or "Facebook Update' creates an enormous expectation around the medium, and even with 5,000 followers those followers may not convert into the transactions required to drive the business.
Social media as 'viral' is by definition social and therefore advertorial tweets need to appeal to the audience on a personal level to be re-distributed (Facebook Share or Re-Tweet), for Apple it is their sense of design, for Budweiser it would be their humour.
Strategic Social Media (SSM) about using social media for a specific objective that is concurrent with the commercial objectives and interests of the company.
SSM can be equally applied to start-ups as it can established companies, although the practical approach is different, as the start-up has to seed the market or media-scape, whereas the existing company already has a brand-reputation, service and/or product set.
This discussion centers specifically on established companies and methodologies to effectively use social media.
The first and most important tool in an SSM campaign is a company's own website.
The usage of the website as part of strategic communication requires a clear definition of the websites role in attracting, maintaining or serving the company's client base.
For example, if we take the case of a Property Developer, a website has numerous role during its life-cycle.
It is likely to begin as a 'sales tool' that promotes and educates the market about the property that is on sale.
As the Property Developer builds their development, the websites transitions to informing the property purchaser about their investment; the usage of information therefore must change to adapt to the new role.
The website is therefore working with the client as a user in tandem across their sales and delivery life-cycle.
The website itself can be used as a content hub, through which information and content can be delivered to the user or client base through social media.
The feed element of social media means that your users are receiving what you send them enabling you to direct them to your own content or other content that reinforces your message.
The usage of news sections is often under-utilised on a website, users are likely not only interested in your specific product set, but they may be interested in other data relevant to the product set or service.
By taking an editorial approach to the news on a website, these updates when distributed through a social media network such as Twitter, increases meaningful contact with your audience which helps to maintain brand loyalty and consumer faith.
Social networks becomes effective when a community forms around a website, company or individual.
It is also bi-directional.
The community becomes capable of interacting with itself and reshaping opinions in response to corporate or brand messages.
Negative press or information can allow a corporate position to be hijacked swiftly by the networked audience, at which point the company loses control of its own information assets.
Without proper management, negative sentiment in a large scale social network can spread rapidly and quickly, this can be a daunting proposition to companies.
However, if a company has prepared itself and is not blindsided by the oncoming threat, social media provides an immediate method to engage and mitigate the risk.
As stated at the onset of this essay, we stated that social media despite the potential for broad distribution, it is a personal medium.
There will generally be a commonality of concerns, by addressing these, the response then becomes personal to the individual but also addresses the community simultaneously.
This is an example of using social media strategically.
Established companies generally have a clear and defined plan for each quarter, by transferring that planning and their market messages through to social media, so that each phase of the communications supports the related stage of business, helping to ensure the message and the delivery are consistent.
This is its core the fundamental premise of strategic marketing and is applicable to all forms of social media communication.