The buzz is about marketing using social media. Every marketing conference lately seems to have more tracks about LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs and Twitter than any other topic. People are hearing fantastic stories about successful campaigns that cost relatively little (or nothing!) to implement. Perhaps you’re considering putting your organization’s toe into the social media marketing pool. You want to try it. Your peers are doing it. Your management is pressuring you about it. But are you really ready?
Social Media Is Only the Beginning
Social media is about starting a conversation. It’s about getting to know someone at 100,000 feet (or through 140 character bursts). In a way, it’s like meeting someone at a club. You chat a bit, over the noise of all the other conversations taking place, and decide if you want to pursue a deeper conversation. If the answer is “yes,” you go some place else. On the web, it means you take them “Home.” To your “Home page,” that is.
People might get to know you, or even like and start to trust you, from conversations in social media. But when it comes down to doing due diligence, they are going to turn to your website. That’s why your site needs to be the foundation of your online marketing strategy. It needs to be great, before you jump in to social media marketing.
The Goal: Drive Traffic to Your Site
Think about it. What if it works? What if you’re a hit at the club? What if you’re successful in driving traffic “Home?” If visitors get there and find a messy house with little or nothing to offer them, they’ll leave. With the ease of conversations facilitated by the web (i.e., social networking) they may start to tell others what a disastrous host you are. Those conversations, trapped in searchable cyber space, could cause damage that’s difficult to repair or overcome.
I learned how to host from my mother. Our house was usually clean, but when we knew company was coming over, well, she went all out! I remember having to dust the shelves flanking our television, covered with knickknacks collected over 30+ years. I remember putting out snacks we didn’t really care much for, knowing it’s what the company liked and wanted. It was about making them feel comfortable and putting our best foot forward.
Before you start tweeting and blogging, make sure you site is ready for the surge of traffic you might generate. Compare your site against the 10 Features of Great Website. Like my mom taught me, you have to clean the house before company arrives. Make sure your site is ready before you start inviting people “Home.”
