Identifying business drivers for your social media plan
This is the second post on Building an Actionable Social Media plan. Refer to the first one if you need a refresher on why we’re doing this.
When people or businesses start engaging in social media they often focus on goals or ROI. But in order to direct your content, you must first identify the business drivers behind your social media activities. If you think of your plan in terms of the 5W’s (who, what, where, when, why) then business drivers are the WHY. I like InvestorWords definition of a business driver which is “A factor that contributes to the growth of a particular business.”
Maybe you haven’t thought of this perspective…I know for me it’s an abstract concept. After all, in small business we’re much more real time and it’s usually more about cash flow than strategy, at least for me. I like to put drivers in three categories when I do plans: Primary, Relevant and Secondary. You’ll find that unexpected benefits of social media may arise as the campaign continues. Also, there may be lack of impact in defined business drivers. The business drivers should be reviewed and revised based on ongoing activity and results and you may be surprised where social media makes the most impact. It’s different for every business I work with!
So to give you some ideas, first here’s a list of some business drivers for specific industries. Then I’ve got a list of some possible business drivers that are common for social media. Please add yours in the comment section, so we can get a good list going!
Business Driver Examples for Industries
Financial/Investment – A big business driver right now is regaining investor confidence, according to marketresearch.com
Retail – Number of walk-ins to the business or net sale value
Professional Services – Attracting strong talent
Other business drivers might be new customers, conversions, risk management, cost savings, etc. If you don’t already know, put some thought to it and make a list of all the things that drive more company revenue, book sales, speaking engagements, online sales, whatever it is that you make money from. Now, we’re going to identify those drivers that can be best helped by social media.
Possible Business Drivers for Social Media
Here are some of the business drivers that are commonly associated with social media tactics:
Brand image, Customer education , Competitive analysis, Brand awareness, Organic SEO, Digital footprint, Talent recruitment, customer service, innovation, vertical industry reputation, market research, business intelligence…you get the picture. Authoritydomains.com has a nice list of data points and drivers if you want to take a look or need more ideas.
You’ll be using these drivers to help you identify the type of content and the frequency of your posts, as well as creating categories of measurement. They’re very important and worth some thought.
Next week..we’ll work on goals for your plan.
Tags: Bonnie Harris, Branding, business drivers, business drivers for social media, digital footprint, SEO, Small Business, small business promotion, social media, social media plan for small business, tips for writing a social media plan, writing a social media plan
August 17th, 2010 at 11:23 am
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These could defiantly help to get the best viewer survey to get the best results from the viewers.
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June 4th, 2011 at 6:47 am
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September 6th, 2011 at 5:48 pm
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October 26th, 2011 at 7:18 am
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November 22nd, 2011 at 6:21 am
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