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Social Networking - How to Create Good Content & How to Measure a Return, Part Two

By Ginger Bisek

Every organization wants a part of the current social networking phenomena. If you don’t have an online presence with all these services, you are missing the boat.

Relax. I’d argue that it’s quite okay to take the next ferry. What’s your hurry? Ninety-nine percent of social networking efforts are not making money, nor are these efforts driving huge amounts of traffic to a Web site. If you do not have a marketing plan for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or any other social networking service—you are neither late, nor “last century.”

If you don’t spend the majority of your resources creating a better product or service, social networking is not going to save the day. But it can’t hurt. It is simply a component of your marketing plan. Do it right, and know your limitations.

All good projects start with a cohesive marketing plan.

Let’s say you want to push a product or new information to the public. Start with developing a creative brief. Limit yourself to one or two clearly defined goals—keeping it simple will help you determine a return. The brief should include a positioning statement for each service: your Web site, your blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

Don’t shoot yourself in the foot before you begin. Hire a good writer. Just because somebody can type doesn’t mean he or she knows how to write. Engaging a seasoned writer from the beginning will result in better copy and a quicker turnaround based on your needs.

Once your brief has been approved by your team, begin the copy work. Develop a symbiosis between all social networking services, and write copy geared toward each audience on that network. A simple editorial calendar may be necessary, too. Most networks will need more than one post.

Launch all components simultaneously. Monitor the chatter. And how to measure? Two words… Google Analytics. Go learn it. You’ll become addicted. Better to spend your time here, measuring your return with the goal of creating a more user-friendly Web site, than twittering your time away.  

Read Part 1: Social Networking & Web 2.0, What is It?

Virginia Bisek helps companies create content for Web sites that is valuable to the user. Visit www.virginiabisek.com or email ginger@virginiabisek.com.