Let It Flow
TweetA few weeks ago I was discussing with some colleagues how a social media program fits into the larger scheme of web marketing. I wanted to draw out a diagram, but the office where we were meeting didn’t have a white board and I didn’t have time in the course of the conversation to do a PowerPoint. Looking back, I supposed I could have sketched something out on a piece of paper. As the saying goes, “Hindsight is 20/20.”
Here is the diagram I was thinking about in my head at the time:
The way I envision this, everything flows downhill for the most part. You might also think of this as a funnel. The only difference here is sometimes links go up as well as down.
Let’s say you’re working on a web marketing strategy for a company which sells, installs and services hot tubs. The company already has a web site which offers brochures via mail to those who request them. This is the main source of leads for the sales force for this company, so the ultimate goal of the web site is to get potential customers to order a brochure. The web site has lots of information about hot tubs with pictures, specifications, financing options, care and use tips and, of course, an order form to request a brochure.
The sales staff, in-house designers, installers and service personnel post information to the blog, which of course has links back to relevant sections of the web site. The blog contains images and videos made by the various departments in the company which are posted on “Media Sharing Sites” and embedded or linked to from the blog. The “channels” on those media sharing sites are linked to from the main web site, as well.
As blog articles, images and videos are added in their various places, they are “tweeted” and posted on Facebook, MySpace, etc. with links back to the content. Staff members are encouraged to join Facebook, Twitter, etc. and keep and eye open for people who may be looking for information about hot tubs to see if there are any conversations to join. Those people in the company’s service area might be encouraged to check out the web site (and, hopefully, order a brochure). A light touch is all that’s needed. There’s no “selling” in these spaces, just information and the occasional “Please check out our web site if you want specific information.”
Each staff member is assigned a forum or other web site which is aimed at those who are interested in hot tubs. They are encouraged to check in, read the posts and participate. Answering questions is highly encouraged in these forums. Again, there’s no “selling” going on. It’s all about giving out good information and pointing others to the web site if appropriate. It’s expected that once people are known to be knowledgeable about hot tubs, those who are interested in purchasing a hot tub in the company’s service area would be more likely to visit their web site rather than someone else’s because they would be dealing with people they kind of know already.
Some of you may be thinking this is somewhat simplistic. It is; but, it well serves the purpose of giving a broad overview of how a managed web marketing plan might work. There are many different ways in which this might be done depending on what business a company is in and many other circumstances. Each business must look at the online landscape and figure out its own detailed strategy.
