2008 good/bad; 2009 worse/better – Who knows

I’ve been reading all sorts of recaps of 2008′s advertising industry as well as prognostications of how 2009 will be better/worse than what happened in the pretty good/pretty bad previous year.

My conclusions based on all this is that numbers will tell you whatever you want them to tell you. If you felt good about social media marketing plans in 2008 you’ll likely continue to feel good about doing them in 2009. If you were looking for a reason to tell your team to stop fooling around with a Facebook strategy then the need to buckle down and stick to what’s worked for the last 60 will provide you with just that excuse.

Here are some tips for building your 2009 marketing plan and being successful about it:

Define Metrics: In some regards yes, better metrics are needed. Actually what’s needed are better definition of metrics so that if two people are talking about “engagement” they’re both working from the same definition. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t value in self-defined metrics. Different programs will have different measures of success and if both parties (ex: an agency and their client) are agreed on what those are then they’ll be able to say “yes/no this was/wasn’t a success.”
Make Small Adjustments: One of the people on my team at Spout is fond of making small tweaks so that he can gauge how things are working and, most importantly, so he knows what it was he did that caused the change. That lets him decide whether he needs to do more of that or try something else. Making shifts like that involve 12 different changes means it’s harder to know what it was that has or hasn’t worked. Don’t abandon an offline strategy completely, but consider shifting dollars slowly to online efforts in small, measurable chunks.
Don’t Believe the Hype: Believe it or not you don’t have to do all the stuff you read about on some social media marketing blogs. Decide what’s going to work for your company and, most importantly, your customers and move forward accordingly. Make sure your social media consultant or agency person is someone who asks the hard questions and isn’t just telling you to do something new every week. Make sure to check that they know what they’re talking about when you hire them.
Build Relationships: I can’t put it better than Scott Monty – “Social media is a karmic business, and you have to give in order to receive. Share you knowledge and information freely. Create an ebook with valuable tips and give it away on your blog or site. Go out of your way to connect people and to show you’re willing to give something before you get something.”

There’s change everywhere. PR people are feeling the impact of the problems in the media world and some publicists and flacks are adjusting their tactics to include more online media. Remembering that a mix of old and new tactics is what leads to lasting change, but make sure you’re paying attention to what’s working and what’s not. Moreover, do what’s working for you, not for someone else since that’s what really matters.