Social Thought Leadership
It’s time to discuss the one word that often is the differentiators between great plans and weak ones. I wanted to share a quick story about why I thought of writing this post (maybe it will bring up thoughts you can share as well in comments). After a trip to Miami for a pitch to a client on December 18th, I found myself airport bound for 12 hours, and a drive that was eventful to say the least. We had just been hammered with 18″ of snow a day before I was to come back home, and the roads were not yet paved.
Where I choose to live is on a quiet, 150 acre farm, that gives me the peace and quiet needed after so many miles of travel throughout the years. That night was different though, no roads were paved and the only path to getting back home and seeing my family was a 2.6 mile paved road with 2 tire tracks for guidance. I did try to make it in my 2 wheel drive vehicle but found out quickly that getting stuck was not an option, so I headed back to park my car at the local Market and proceed to the next phase of the journey.
As the clock clicked past 8pm, I knew that it would take me at least an hour to walk 2.6 miles, in 18″ of snow, with a briefcase (wasn’t about to leave my Mac PowerBook alone) and a strong mind to get home and see my family after 4 days of being away from them. I started out, down a very dark road, no cars, no noise, just the sound of snow under my feet, and my thoughts. So, nothing else to do but think.
All I could think about was getting home to my family, no matter the conditions. I would have walked 20 miles if I had to-this is what I am talking about here… Commitment. I committed to my family, to be home with them no matter what and I did just that. Through 2.6 miles of 18″ of snow, carrying a heavy briefcase, up hills of ice packed snow trails to get to my final destination. That’s what you have to do to make it in business today. You have to commit to a plan and then have the right people, resources and information to execute a plan. So let’s talk about what this really means.
Commitment. The very word sends varying thoughts and memories into peoples minds when they hear it, discuss it or are asked about it and really, Why Not? Just saying this is not nearly enough to run successful plans, in any area of your business. So lets look at what it actually means, in each area of our personal and business lives, per Wiki:
• Brand commitment refers to the strength of the relationship between consumers (or customers) and a particular brand (or service)
• Personal commitment, interaction dominated by obligations. These obligations may be mutual, or self-imposed, or explicitly stated, or may not. Distinction is often made between commitment as a member of an organization (such as a sporting team, a religion, or as an employee), and a personal commitment, which is often a pledge or promise to ones’ self for personal growth.
In each of these areas, commitment is clearly a “relationship” between something and someone, and fits well with our current efforts in Marketing today. Relationships take Commitment, pure and simple, its the sweat equity you put into it and receive from these efforts that make the difference between success and good enough Marketing Strategies. Companies today who ask me, in ways that dance around this term, hear our only answer: “you have to commit to this medium or it won’t work” period, end of story. Too many times leaders dance around this term of commitment in many areas within Marketing, Sales and Goal setting that result in blame and dissapointment from their employees and their managers when revenue and margin goals are missed.
Here’s the deal: Stop Blaming failures on the team and take the bull by the horns and commit to a strategy.
As the leader of your organization, how can you expect to have your team execute a successful plan when you clearly have one foot in the water and the other foot out? As with Plan, it has to be pushed from the top, no matter how big or small your organization is. If this belief comes from the leader it automatically has credibility, and your team wants to help you get it done and done right. When you half-ass it, guess what… you get half-ass results.
Here are some tips in formulating your Social and Online Strategy so you can commit to it:
• Research: Do it by the numbers not just what’s hot today
Have your Marketing Staff pull some easy research around conversations within your keywords, product sets, competition and industry to get a snap shot of what opportunities exist in your vertical and space.
Are there lots of conversations happening around your buzz words?
What networks, forums, or communities are discussing your Brand or Competition?
Are there specific Users that seem to be mentioning you or your Industry often that you can build relationships with?
• Review: Sit with your team and determine what this data tells you, what it may mean and what velocity looks like around these conversations.
Are the conversations happening very often?
Does the sentiment seem to be skewed to a positive or negative direction?
• Opportunities: Determine how involvement in a Social or Online Strategy would help achieve Financial Goals
Where are people discussing your Brand in Social Networks?
What are your Competitors doing in the space and what, if any success are they having?
In the Industry, who could you partner with, to build links to and from your site?
• Strategy: Creating a winning strategy utilizing this new medium
How would this integrate into your current Marketing Programs and Plans?
How can you leverage this medium to reduce costs while increasing marketing efficiencies?
What outside help do you need to put together a Strategy? (Be careful who you choose-I know some great folks who can help-as well as my company)
What are the Commitments needed company-wide to make this successful?
This is not meant (and please don’t write me to say that I have missed about 2,000 steps that we all in the space know) to be a plan or outline for a successful Social and Online Strategy by any stretch, however, its a brief list you need to review and know prior to jumping in the pool. The people I talk with on a daily and weekly basis know what’s involved to make a plan like this happen, and let me tell you, you won’t find this in an online book, e-book or some crafty Lead Magnet that you download.
There are so many things that go into a proven strategy like this, and you should at the least talk with someone who has proven their wares and has some scars (Mistakes) to show it before Committing to anything. Don’t be afraid to reach out to me or any you prefer, on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or the 1000’s of other Social Networks you may see or be involved with. We are a very helpful, sharing group that knows how to help your Brand get the details and research needed to make solid decisions about your Commitment to a strategy in Social and Online.
What are you going to commit to in this new decade and make your business the best that it can be, not just financially, but from all aspects such as, employee satisfaction, customer referrals, industry influencer’s who talk well about your Brand and what you are doing? And… the group of Social thought leaders, who tell stories about your commitment of how you did it.
I will cover more of this in the coming weeks of how you can develop a strategy, so look for these posts. Good luck and Happy New Year-welcome to 2010.
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