As we all know by now, to develop an effective marketing strategy, we will need to set ourselves objectives. Not having objectives means we can't measure our activities which means we won't know if our marketing strategy has been effective.
How does a company like Coke set objectives for their SM strategies? It's easy to go to an IMC textbook and look up how you set SMART objectives, but is this really the way you should approach your objective setting for your SM strategy?
I came across an interesting blog that gives some pointers as to how you should set your SM objectives.
Have a look at Coke's strategy for their SM activities.
Do any of you have experience in developing SM strategies and how did you go about setting your objectives?
Look forward to your comments.
Great Post, Ross! I think setting objectives is one of the most important things to do before launching a SM campaign. I have experience about doing some campaigns on Facebook but they always have been linked to the overall objectives that we wanted to reach with the campaign...However, I think it's important to establish specific objectives for a SM strategy because things that we could reach through SM (e.g., generating an instant opinion, comment, etc. about our brand) are different than things that we can reach with other media channels (e.g., Radio, Television, etc.)
ReplyDeleteReally intelligent post Ross and I really like that you keep drawing SM back to a strategic marketing tool. I wonder if many companies jump on the SM band wagon because their competitors and everyone else are using it?! Coke really are the original marketing masters and they obviously continue to pave the way. 'Slideshare' is something I might try and become more familiar with, do you know much about?
ReplyDeleteHi both
ReplyDelete@Paulette, I agree with you that you should set some objectives for your SM strategy, even if these are sub-objectives to your communications objectives, but with the widespread nature, the ability for SM to become a two way communication method, I think it warrants its own set of objectives if you are serious about the potential it brings.
@Hubba, yes, coke has always been amazing, and yes, I know there are a lot of businesses out there that simply jumps on the bandwagon, especially small businesses that may not have the expertise or resources to allocate to developing a comprehensive SM strategy.
Ross