Five points about using media

Choose carefully

There are dozens—if not hundreds—of Social Media applications, and new ones are appearing on the horizon every day. If you still need time to run your core business, you simply cannot participate in them all, especially since “being active” is one key requirement of success (see below). Choosing the right medium for any given purpose depends on the target group to be reached and the message to be communicated. On the one hand, each Social Media application usually attracts a certain group of people and firms should be active wherever their customers are present. For example, if your main target audience is book lovers, a content community via which users share self-written novels or poems is likely better suited to your purpose than a virtual world which centers on fighting dragons and finding treasures. On the other hand, there may be situations whereby certain features are necessary to ensure effective communication, and these features are only offered by one specific application. For example, when the U.S. Army undertook an initiative in 2007 to reach the Hispanic community, it decided to utilize the social networking site Univision rather than the more popular Facebook. This choice was driven in part by the fact that Univision—a Spanish-language television network in the U.S. and Puerto Rico—is the social networking application with the largest Latin American audience, due to an extensive range of telenovelas and Mexican programs produced by Grupo Televisa. However, another reason Univision was chosen is because it offers a moderating service which checks comments from users for appropriateness before posting them on the site. In contrast, other applications, including Facebook, allow users to post messages without supervision.

Pick the application, or make your own

Once you know which game you’re playing, the next decision involves whether to make or buy. In some cases, it might just be best to join an existing Social Media application and benefit from its popularity and user base. After all, there is no need to reinvent the wheel if somebody has already done it, especially given that Social Media show positive network externalities in the sense that they get more attractive to join the more participants they already have. But in some cases, the right application might just not be available yet. Japan's Fujifilm, for example, recently launched its own social network to build a community of photo enthusiasts. In a similar spirit, U.S.-based department store firm Sears collaborated with MTV music television to create a social network around back-to-school shopping. Yet, whatever the ultimate decision—to buy, make, or both—it is vital that there is an understanding of the basic idea behind Social Media. It's all about participation, sharing, and collaboration, rather than straightforward advertising and selling.

Ensure activity alignment

Sometimes you may decide to rely on various Social Media, or a set of different applications within the same group, in order to have the largest possible reach. In this case, it is crucial to ensure that your Social Media activities are all aligned with each other. A prime example in this context is computer manufacturer Dell and its “Digital Nomads” campaign. Dell uses a combination of social networking sites (Facebook, LinkedIn), blogs, and content communities (YouTube videos) to show how its range of laptop computers enable individuals to become a nomadic mobile workforce. In a similar spirit, Chrysler's Jeep brand connects with its customers by combining photos shared on the content community Flickr, with groups on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. Using different contact channels can be a worthwhile and profitable strategy. But remember: one goal of communication is the resolution of ambiguity and reduction of uncertainty, and nothing is more confusing than contradicting messages across different channels.

Media plan integration

What is true for different types of Social Media also holds for the relationship between Social Media and traditional media: Integration is key! While you may consider these two arenas to be completely different, in customers’ eyes they are both part of the same: your corporate image. Consider the actions of soft drink giant Coca-Cola. In June 2006, a pair of performance artists shot a video featuring a series of geysers they created by dropping Mentos brand mints into 2-liter bottles of Coke; the clip became a major hit on YouTube. Realizing customers’ enthusiasm for this performance, Coca-Cola fostered the sensation by airing the video on late-night television and ensuring broad digital distribution across different content communities. Besides the advantage of high impact/low cost media coverage, the campaign also resulted in a measurable sales uplift.

Access for all

Although this might sound elementary, once the firm has decided to utilize Social Media applications, it is worth checking that all employees may actually access them. Commonly, firms block Facebook, YouTube, and Second Life on corporate PCs for fear that staff might spend too much time networking instead of working. While this is certainly a consideration, it cannot imply that employees must have special permission to be able to access the company blog. At the same time, there is a need to curtail the possibility of the entire organization spending all its time producing funny videos and uploading them to YouTube. One possible approach involves defining groups of employees whose primary objective is the management of corporate Social Media; all other staff members are treated as occasional participants. Under this scenario, the first group is given administrator rights—which allows the opening of new discussion threads and deletion of inappropriate posts—while the second group is not. Also, at some point, it will be necessary to develop certain guidelines for Social Media usage; as done, for instance, by “Big Blue” IBM, which has a corporate charta for appropriate behavior within Second Life. For example, it is important to highlight that every employee needs to identify himself or herself as such when posting a comment on the corporate blog. Otherwise, end-consumers could get the impression that anonymous accounts are used to enable employees to post fake messages and overly-positive feedback, which could severely damage the credibility of your whole Social Media campaign.