Media Emerging

Lots of companies want to take advantage of social media. But is your company ready for social media?

It’s tempting to jump and “get your feet wet.” Experimentation is a good thing — I don’t want to discourage you. But before you start flinging profiles up all over the web, take a second to assess your preparedness.

Do you possess these 12 traits you’ll need to succeed in social media?

Trust

• Do you trust your employees? Are you willing to let them represent your brand online?
• Do you have faith in your ability to meet customer expectations?
• Can you trust others to carry some of the load, rather than doing it all yourself?
• Do you trust your team enough to let them experiment?

Responsiveness

• Are you diligent about responding to every email and phone call?
• Do you solve problems, rather than merely acknowledging, disputing or ignoring them?
• Do you have a system to ensure accountability to your customers, suppliers and partners?
• Is every member of your team equipped and empowered to serve customers?

Training

• Have you given team members access to social media training and other learning tools?
• Do you have a social media policy to guide (not restrict) employee use of social media?
• Have you talked to employees about best practices and online etiquette?
• Did you educate executives to gain buy-in and avoid misunderstandings?

Generosity

• Are you willing to give away content (e-books, webinars, videos, etc.) for free to generate interest?
• Are you willing to forgo harvesting email addresses in exchange for greater reach?
• Are you willing to reward loyal customers and influencers with exclusive opportunities?
• Do you care about helping others meet their goals, or just meeting your own?

Patience

• Are you prepared to wait six months or more to see results?
• Do you have the stick-to-it-iveness to endure when you’re not getting blog comments?
• Will you still have enthusiasm for social media when your busy season arrives?

Participation

• Will you commit to letting all employees participate in social media?
• Are you willing to get your own hands dirty and participate?
• Are you prepared to take more than a superficial interest in your customers’ lives?

Thick Skin

• Can you handle criticism?
• Will you respond diplomatically if someone bashes your company on their blog?
• Are you sincere about using feedback – positive and negative – to improve how your business?
• Are you humble enough to acknowledge your shortcomings (honestly…not the “we care too much” way)?

Open-mindedness

• Do you believe “The Way It’s Always Been Done” isn’t always the right way?
• Would you let your customers come up new product ideas?
• If an idea sounds illogical to you, are you brave enough to let an employee run with it?

Resources

• Do you recognize social media isn’t just a cheap/free alternative to advertising?
• Are you willing to let employees spend “work time” on social networking sites?
• Will you invest enough resources in your social media efforts for them to gain traction?
• Would you be satisfied reaching a smaller audience if it’s more targeted?
• Are you good at managing your time?

Work Ethic

• Are you aware that social media requires actual people and shouldn’t be over-automated?
• Are you committed to excellence over mediocrity?
• Will you bust your butt to make your customers raving fans?

Courage

• Are you at ease living under a microscope?
• Are you comfortable adapting on the fly to audiences that can be difficult to predict?
• Are you willing to reveal a little bit of your personal side?
• Will you soldier on with social media, even if you fail?

Realistic Expectations

• Do you have specific and measurable goals?
• Are they attainable? Are they attainable via social media?
• Will you keep up your other marketing activities, rather than putting all your eggs in one basket?
• Have you consulted with a professional (contact me) to assess the feasibility of your goals?

Any Other Ideas?

What did I miss?

Can we talk about transparency again?

I know all of us “veterans” of social media are sick of this discussion. Too bad. We make up less than 1% of the global population, and the other 99% still have questions about transparency, disclosure, authenticity and the rest. It’s our job to answer those questions.

And here’s the real bitch of it: They don’t even use those words. They say things like “Can you just write my blog for me?” Only those of us in the industry use such high-falutin’ terms.

So much for speaking the language of your customer, right?

The transparency debate seems to revolve around one question: Is it okay to blog/tweet on behalf of someone else?

Some say ghost-blogging is okay. Some say it’s not. Some are re-evaluating their positions. Even the tech community is split.

It’s time for a reality check: Ghost blogging will happen. Ghost tweeting will happen. We can’t stop it. Sheer economics tell us CEOs have better things to do than writing blogs, responding to comments and “building community.” It’s true at Fortune 500s, and probably more true at small businesses.

Here’s another reality: Most consumers probably don’t care who writes the blog. To them, transparency isn’t about seeing the man behind the curtain. It’s about trusting the Wizard to take you back to Kansas like he promised.

Those of us in the ever-converging PR, marketing and social media fields can be purists if we’d like. We can draw our lines in the sand. And we can go broke in the process.

I’m not saying we should all start ghost-blogging and ghost-tweeting. We must continue to teach. We must look for creative solutions (Employee blogs instead of ghost-written CEO blogs?). We must continue to influence companies to be listeners and facilitators, not just talkers.

And we must be open-minded.

Companies not innately gifted with communications prowess will nonetheless want to use the tools of communication to their advantage. You’re either with ‘em or against ‘em. You’ll have more luck teaching them to use the tools responsibly if you’re with ‘em, trust me.