Forrest Anderson, ace researcher and stakeholder relationship expert, writes in a recent blog post that organizations need to ensure they have clear strategic objectives in place before launching a social media campaign. Otherwise, he says, “social media is a tactic in search of a strategy.”
Forrest is a founding member of and a colleague on the Institute for PR Measurement Commission, so evaluating the effectiveness of PR campaigns is part of his business foundation. His statement brings to mind a similar sentiment I read just yesterday from Terry Morawski, who blogs at TMo’s Garage:
Companies used to desperately need a web site, but they weren’t sure why. Today, companies want a social media presence, but they aren’t sure why.
Strategy answers the why!
Social media has been an experiment for me these past few months, and one thing I have gained is access to new thinking, new perspectives and new people. Twitter helped me discover professional colleagues I didn’t know existed. My blog has been a source of fascinating idea exchange. But I still am not sure whether these personal satisfactions are helping my nascent business.
One reason for that is likely that I haven’t established key performance indicators — specific objectives against which to evaluate my social media activities.
Looks like I’ve got some work to do.
Tags: @commammo, @forrestanderson, @michelleipr, @morate, Blog, Communication AMMO, communication experts, communication methods, communication vehicles, effective communication, Forrest Anderson, measurement, objectives, PR measurement, Public Relations, reputation management, Social Media, strategy, Terry Morawski, TMo's Garage, Twitter