Energise 2-0

I read with interest a recent and very interesting blog post by an ex-University colleague of mine Jillian Ney entitled Why? Do You Have ‘Why’ in Your Social Media Plan?

The essence of Jillian’s (@jillney) excellent post was the need for constant self-appraisal of why we are doing this? Why do we need a social media strategy? Why are we using this specific media? Why are we posting this particular content? and so on. Constantly asking why, according to Jillian, will prevent you jumping on the ‘we need to do this because everyone else is doing it’ bandwagon. It will ensure that your social media strategy is customised to the specific needs of your own organisation, rather than following a ‘me too’ road to nowhere.

Jillian’s post reminded me of another excellent article, published last July, by Brian Solis (@briansolis) entitled The Number One Least Asked Question in Social Media Why. Brian addressed the why question from a customer-led perspective – ‘Like us on Facebook’, why should I? ‘Follow us on Twitter, why should I? Why should I connect with your brand? Why should I tell people about you? and so on. In a social media era characterised by customer empowerment, these are critical questions to ask. Too many companies still adopt an ‘inside-out’ rather than an ‘outside-in’ customer led approach to social media. With the rise of the social customer, this is a dangerous strategy to follow.

Like Jillian and Brian, we too have our own list of questions to be addressed. These have been developed to encourage organisations to undertake a detailed Social Media Strategy Audit. A Balanced Scorecard approach is used to ensure that future social media activities are fully aligned with and supportive of core business goals and objectives. Continue reading →