Social Media Marketing Part 2: Education

Welcome to part 2 of this six part series. In this article we will discuss the first step in any successful marketing campaign Social or otherwise.  We are going to treat our journey to marketing success as a fishing trip.  Our goal is to have fish in our boat at the end of the journey.

We could just drive to the lake and fish right?  Not really…  We first need to educate ourselves.  That was the purpose of the first article in this series.  If you have done your homework you will have researched the terms I gave you and developed your own conclusions using that information along with the opinions I shared with you.  So for our fishing example we need to remember our goal is to head home with fish.

• So let’s research which lake we want to fish at.  Why does this matter?
  • What kind of fish do you want to catch?
  • What equipment will you need to catch these fish?
    • Gear
      • Pole
      • Net
      • Dynamite (Dynamite Fisherman you know who you are… J)
  • Bait
    • Trout bite at worms
    • Sharks bite tuna
  • Hook
    • What Size
    • How many
    • How many prongs
  • Boat
    • A 10 foot motor boat might work on a lake
    • I would want something a little bigger for the ocean.
• What resources do we have to get to the lake?
  • Vehicle
    • We may choose a closer lake if we have to walk.
  • Money
    • If I do not have any money to spend on this trip I will choose a shore trip with bait I dug up in my back yard.
  • Patience
    • Am I going for the tough catch and willing to wait for the big win?
    • Do I want to eat fish for sure and require an easy catch?
  • Assistance
    • I do not know about you but I would probably need help if I wanted to catch a whale.

The same question applies to our marketing approach.  We must educate ourselves prior to making this choice or our marketing campaign will fail.

• Where are we going to market?
  • Who are you trying to reach?
    • Age
      • My Dad is not going to understand some of the online things that my daughter would.
  • Gender
    • I am not going to read the same material as my Mother.
  • Passions
    • Your customers may have a passion for your knowledge or product.  Make sure that is the customer you are fishing for.
  • Business
    • If you are going after a business to business relationship then make sure you are using the correct bait for that particular business.  I will guarantee you Roto-Rooter will not bite at the same bait as Victoria Secret.
• Gather the equipment you will need to achieve your goal
  • Choose the right social media tools or websites.
    • I can choose a simple entry on twitter every day for this mission
    • I could choose a detailed article of extreme value that I post on a blog
    • I could choose to email my info in a newsletter
    • I could do all of the above.
  • Do you have something of social value to reach your intended audience
    • Content (Bait)
      • Do you have the right Bait to attract your customer?  Remember it must be of social value.  That is why they are reading it.
    • Product (Hook)
      • Do you have a product or solution that will at grab your customer once they have decided to give you a try?
    • Support (Catch)
      • Do you have the rest of the path cleared away leading the client to your goal?
  • What about the resources to complete your task
    • Time
      • Anything worthwhile in the marketing world will take time
    • Money (if required)
      • For staff
      • For programs or subscriptions
    • Knowledge
      • Have you made the investment to gain the knowledge to guarantee success
    • Staff
      • As required.  You can do it or hire help the choice is yours.

This may seem trivial.  However I cannot count the number of times I have been looking at a major problem with one of my staff when I said these words…..  We must have leadership in place that can see exactly where we are aiming before we pull the trigger or in this example cast our line into the water.  I want to urge you to take this very seriously.  Know what your objective is and do not move forward until you have all of the information you need to insure a success.  Your marketing dollar and time is a very valuable resource.  You can stretch this resource by increasing your return with a successfully planned and launched campaign.