Back to Basics
March 18, 2009 by Nathan
We’ve had a little time to process last week’s Ragan/PRSA Social Media for Communicators conference, and things we heard are already starting to fall into place. Just a few hours back in the office, and the opportunity to apply what we learned is making what was conceptual real.
We have been in the “online brand” business for more than ten years – counseling clients on best practices and staying current on new tools and trends. But the impact that social networking and the demand for consumer engagement online has propelled this evolution forward dramatically in the last few years.
Enter a conference where these principles are more than accepted – but examined as the future of communication … and things can get overwhelming quickly.
The first and most important take-away from the conference: Strategy drives tools. It seems like a simple concept, but when new social media sites and new tools are being introduced every day, there’s a tendency to want to try them all. But, first it’s back to basics: Consider your audiences, objectives and resources before you do anything.
Work out the tough stuff, and understanding concepts like Web 2.0 – or even Web 3.0 – becomes more manageable. Incorporating – or passing on – tools like Ning, Yammer, Flickr, Twitter, Qik, Facebook etc. is much easier to do when you have a strategy.
The first speaker of the conference, Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, put it all into perspective. Here you have a company that took in $1.6 million in revenue in 2000, $8.6 million in 2001 and is on pace to top $1 billion for the first time this year. Zappos is widely recognized as a leader online and in social networking initiatives, but when Tony addressed the conference, he encouraged us to focus on the basics – corporate culture, good customer service and “delivering happiness.”
With all the changes that are taking place in communication, it’s easy to get lost in the details. It’s critical to understand the tools, but making the choices that take care of your customers is what really matters.
Photo Credit: Larry Tomlinson
