DISQUS

Dirk Shaw's blog: 5 things I’ve learned leading social media initiatives

  • Dawn Savukinas-Poulos · 4 months ago
    Dirk, this is a really excellent post. Thanks for summing up the issues so nicely. What resonates particularly is the lesson that SM is not one person’s job and that interactions can (I believe MUST) require internal collaboration across functions. Yes, it’s the marketing dept that usually runs the social media initiatives but more often than not, it’s the professional services person who works with clients on a daily basis or the developer coding the product who can provide the most meaningful interaction. So often these folks are not considered an integral resource for SM strategies and initiatives which I believe is a critical barrier to success.
  • dirkmshaw · 4 months ago
    Hi Dawn,.

    Getting others involved is essential. You might be interested in this whitepaper i wrote about making social media a capability, not a campaing. http://dirkshaw.blogspot.com/2009/06/whitepaper...

    thanks for commenting.

    dirk
  • Scott Hepburn · 4 months ago
    You've raised some good points here, Dirk. These are "real world" questions that I think social media practitioners are just starting to grapple with.

    What is the best attribution model for a cross-platform sales process?
    What are valuable metrics to measure?
    What's the most efficient way to identify an influencer?
    Are there varying degrees and types of influence?
    How do you adapt your strategy for different types of influencer?
    How do enterprises get the entire team to use social media effectively for business?

    We're reaching a stage where social media is maturing (or surrendering, depending on your point of view). We've realized pie-in-the-sky visions and new-fangled metrics may land contracts, but they don't renew them. "Ooh, shiny!" must eventually yield to "Show me the money."
  • dirkmshaw · 4 months ago
    Hey Scott.

    I like how you have turned these into questions and also agree with the point that social media is maturing and there needs to be some controls in place in order to optimize to deliver the best results. Dirk
  • serenae · 4 months ago
    Dirk, what a great post. Thank you so much for breaking this down into such clear steps.
  • Ben · 4 months ago
    Here are a few other social media lessons that some people learned the hard way: http://racetalkblog.com/2009/08/12/5-social-med...