Social Media Strategy
With a few comments on blogging
Agenda
 5 axioms of social strategy
 Bad reasons to do social
 A “default” social strategy for retirement communities
 Measuring success
 Tips on developing your own strategy and plan
 Conflict/reputation management
 Brief comments on blogging and content strategy
 Summary
5 axioms of
social strategy
Axiom: A statement or proposition that is
regarded as being established, accepted, or
self-evidently true
Axiom #1
All of your marketing activities must provide
“positive ROI” – social media is no exception
Axiom #2
Epistemology =/= ontology
Axiom #3
Communicating with some people will yield
dramatically higher ROIs than others
Axiom #4
Strategy involves ensuring “fit” between your
chosen activities
Axiom #5
Taking into account your industry and market,
there is a “default” (or “game theoretic”) strategy
for social media
Bad reasons to
participate in
social media
Bad reason #1
To “go viral”
Bad reason #2
To drive traffic to your website
Bad reason #3
To drive conversions and generate new leads
Towards a
“default”
strategy
(For retirement communities)
A potentially good reason
to do social
Branding
 Helping create a sense of community
 “Customer service”, but public
What this could look like
Micro-blog of “residence news”, geared towards
your current community (and particularly to the
children of your residents)
On measuring
success
Be crystal clear on your strategy – on why you
are doing social – and only then determine how
to measure success
Problematic method #1
Community size
 Number of “fans”, “followers”, etc
Problematic method #2
Pure “engagement” metrics
 Shares, retweets, etc
(Note: can work IF you are already following the default
strategy)
Slightly more meaningful
method
Traffic and conversions
 Sessions
 Bounce rate
 Time-on-site
 Conversions
 Pages-per-session
(Note: still conflicts with default strategy)
Best method
 Reactions from prospects
 Offline feedback from children of current
residents
 Commenting and sharing (with the default
strategy)
 Look at all stats, but put them in context
Tips on
developing your
own strategy
Social planning
 Decide how your online social community will be
managed
 Ensure participants are crystal clear on the strategy
 Develop internal guidelines
 Determine beforehand what success will look like
Conflict
management
Protecting your reputation
 Merely being on social will help your image, and
provide protection when attacked
 Having a genuine “core” of support on social will
be a stronger defense than raw numbers
 Tactics: respond quickly; move conversations
offline to a private environment; close the loop
online
Blogging and
content strategy
Tips
 Own your SERPs
 Apply the same axioms
 When blogging, pay particular attention to
axiom #4, (finding fit between activities)
 Understand the difference between a blog and
your regular website
 Use Google Analytics and CrazyEgg
Consumers blur the line between
a product and an experience
Comfort Life - Ad Network