Is the clock running out on your social media use?
We all know we “ought” to be “doing” social networking. Twitter, Facebook, Linked In … the list is almost literally endless these days.
And if you’ve ever spent just a few minutes on a site like Twitter, you probably came out of the experience with a spinning head and one huge question:
How do you wisely implement a social networking strategy into your marketing plan without losing control of your time?
Social networking works — and it’s more important than ever that solo lawyers and other solo/small firm professionals get that point fully absorbed into their consciousnesses. (That’s a hard word to say out loud, by the way. You ever try it? Con-scious-ness-es… I’m just saying.)
But there’s a smart way to do it, and a lot of ways that aren’t so smart. And that question — the time management question — it’s a good one to ask.
We’ve got ten “rules” — more like “suggestions,” really — and we’re covering each of them in a separate post for ten days. All together, we hope they offer you “food for thought” about ways in which you might implement a social networking strategy into your marketing plan without losing your mind in the process.
Today’s post is about rule #1: understanding why you’re in the social networking “game” and what you’re looking to get out of it.
#1:Know Your Goals
OK, this one’s trickier than usual. We almost always start with goals in any endeavor (or should) but with social networking, there’s an added factor — a little soft, hard to define je ne sais quoi — that complicates the goal-setting process.
What should your goals be? Well, of course that depends on your practice and your business’s needs. I can tell you what they ought not to be, though:
- increase in paying clients of x number or percentage over the next y number of tweets on Twitter
- revenue boost of $x.yz for every Facebook post
- etc., etc., ad nauseam
The simple truth is that social networking does not readily lend itself to the customary direct ROI (return on investment) analyses. (Here’s a really good take on the subject of social media ROI from SEOMoz.) You’re going to have to find a new metric — the SEOMoz piece suggests major media mentions as one possibility.
So, if the usual suspects of marketing goals aren’t really applicable, then how do we start to establish goals for our social networking activities? Right off the bat, I’d suggest “implementing a social networking strategy” as a good goal to set initially, without any hint of irony or sarcasm. Just getting started is a big enough step.
After that, how about looking at raising your profile? Increasing your blog traffic? Securing a speaking engagement or two or ten? And I also like that “major media mention” — although for most of us, a more reasonable goal would be “local media mention.”
Bottom line: set some goals. Know what you’re going after before you dive in. And keep those goals in mind for Rule #2 — Create a Plan Based on Your Goals.
