1. What’s it all about then?

Social media is about people talking to people in networks. That’s it. Nothing more complicated than that. Sure, people do funky stuff like share videos and collaborate on projects and play Scrabble and write their own blogs… but really it’s all about people coming together online and having a good old blether.

2. So how do we do social media?

Well, you don’t ‘do’ social media. You use social media tools and services like Facebook and Twitter to talk to people. Why? Because that’s where you’ll find people – on Facebook and Twitter and blogs and a gazillion other social networks and sites. You just have to talk to them.

3. We have to talk to people?!

Sure you do, if you want to use social media. Hey, it’s a big change. We understand that. Businesses and brands and organisations are used to ‘broadcasting’. You advertise to people. You try to get their attention. You try to sell them stuff. You control your message and you ignore criticism. But if you do that in the social media world, people will cut you dead. Seriously. You have to find people who want to hear from, who care what you do… and then talk to them openly.

4. How do we talk to people?

Just as you would in a meeting or around a kitchen table or in a pub. You listen, you gauge the situation, and you join in with the conversation. But you also have to be real. People you connect with, people who give you their time and attention, have to feel that they’re connecting with a person, not a faceless corporate image. Nobody wants to talk to a logo. So you have to be prepared to be (more) open and honest and transparent about what you do and who you are.

5. What happens then?

Well, if people are interested in you, they’ll talk about you to their friends – and ‘friends’ in this context means people in their extended networks. If you give somebody a reason to become your friend or fan on Facebook, their friends will see this. Some of them may be inclined to become your friend or fan as well. And so it spreads. This network effect is incredibly powerful.

6. What if people say we suck?

If you’re rubbish at what you do – if you sell snake oil or offer lousy value for money – then sure, people will talk about you negatively. But they’re going to do that anyway – in fact, they probably already are – and there’s nothing you can do about it if you stay outside the conversation. On the other hand, if you’re good at what you do, people will like you. If you’re responsive, they’ll appreciate that. If you’re open to input and feedback, you’re onto a winner. If you care about your customers, they’ll care about you. And they’ll tell all their friends. So if you don’t want people saying that you suck… don’t suck.

7. What social media sites should we use?

As Lance Armstrong said, it’s not about the bike. And really, it’s not. It’s about figuring out what you want to achieve and working backwards from there. If you want to win the Tour de France, you need a good bike that’s right for the circumstances – but the lightest, fastest bike in the world won’t win a stage for you. It’s what you do with your bike that matters. Your social media strategy is much the same deal – first choose the right tools for the job; then use them well.

8. What’s the ROI?

Most social media consultants will tell you it’s a large island off the west coast of Britain. But we understand that a social media marketing campaign has to pay its way. You need a return on your investment. We can’t guarantee an outcome in the way that, say, a direct mailshot might produce a steady response rate of 0.3%. But we can do something much more useful. We can monitor, track and analyse everything you do every step of the way – and respond accordingly.

9. So who’s doing this stuff well? Who do we copy?

We’ll pretend we didn’t hear that. Tempting though it is to jump on the latest bandwagon and follow the latest success story, we believe there’s a fantastic opportunity for just about every business and organisation to do something brilliant with social media. Does one of your competitors already ‘own’ the social space (e.g. a gazillion friends on Facebook)? Then you can do something different and better. And if they don’t… well, there’s a terrific opportunity right there for you. And right now.

10. Social media is free, isn’t it?

Yes. And absolutely not. The tools are usually free – that’s true. But using those tools as part of a marketing campaign requires skill, time and effort. Your social media strategy isn’t something to dump on the staff member of least resistance. We’ll help you plan your resources to make sure you can run your social media strategy effectively.