I promised someone I would jot out some ‘observations’ around social media and outreach for big sporting events – be it the Ryder Cup or the Underwater Basket Weaving Olympics. This is a note to myself as much as anyone else.
Where outreach is concerned before the event is really important and after the event a whole lot less relevant and interesting.
Think carefully about the right content, across the right channels for the right audience. Not everyone loves Golf!
What stuff can no one else get hold of? What related information and insights are more interesting to a more diverse audience?
Don’t underestimate the need to get your network of content contributors on board with the concept and approach.
What are the realities of making it happen? What if mobiles and camera phones are forbidden?!
Think about domains and visibility. Do the live stuff in the right place but think too about managing risk.
In some cases you can only listen. Managing can be difficult. Yes, Mr. #RyderCup hashtag it rained during the event!
There’s nothing wrong with supporting it with a bit of tactical PPC.
Prior preparation prevents piss poor performance. Plan carefully any site migrations, DNS changes and ISP moves well before the event.
Test and learn. You’ll get better and better – both while doing the job in hand and in the future.
I hope they are useful observations. Well done to everyone involved. It wasn’t just a win for Europe.
You know the story … Digital channels have grown up. Push has become pull. Consumers are truly empowered and they are becoming increasingly turned off by one way dialogue. The social web presents a fundamental and revolutionary change. What customers are saying online helps shape your brand …
But how does it all stack up in ROI terms? This was the topic of a roundtable discussion I facilitated for the International Business Development Group in October. Attended by organisations as diverse as 3M, Barclays, BBC, Cisco Systems, Sea France, Woodland Trust and The Caravan Club we kicked off by discussing some of the key challenges we all faced in 2010.
Everyone is talking about social media. It still amazes me just how much twitter has engulfed our digital marketing conversations during 2009. Don’t get me wrong, I am a fully signed up member of the fundamental and revolutionary change I mentioned earlier but like every Digital Marketing Manager I need to be concerned about return for the business – return on every bit of effort we make. The starting point has to be figuring out the ‘what’ and ‘why’ – our objectives. Closely following that we need to figure out how we are going to measure it all. I am not going to repeat stuff for which others have already presented a good discussion so here are three good econsultancy blogs I checked out while doing my homework for this session;
I’ll cut to the chase – my travelling home on the train thoughts. We know social media is really important. We know the role it takes where driving brand equity online is concerned. We know the role it might take in driving response and sales. Hey, with a bit of planning and the right tools we can even measure it. But, beware the opportunity cost. Don’t let the social media monster eclipse everything else you need to be doing. The list is long and unless you are very lucky your resources are finite. So, be clear on what your specific digital marketing priorities are and remain focussed on them. Do social media but do it at the right time and in the right way for your organisation within the context of the specific challenges you face.
If you still need to be convinced on the potential impact of the social web check this out;
Like the Fat Boy Slim soundtrack too – reminds me of the old days!
