Chapter 14, titled “This Is NOT a Sandbox. It’s a Business” answers some social media consultants’ advice to experiment with SMM, arguing for a more prepared and strategic approach (as part of wrapping up what the authors have been arguing all along). As a temper to this, the authors are sure to talk about the iterative process, taking a cue from tech startups that launch a product in order to see what their customers want to do with it. Planning must be balanced with flexibility; social media marketing cannot be a fully scripted experience, as the authors point out. The chapter also addresses seeking consultation.
Chapter 15, titled “Being Social” hammers home the authors’ philosophy on sociality in business by explaining that being a social media marketer and being social are not the same; yet both are needed in business. The chapter draws upon one of the authors’ home towns, Pikeville, Kentucky, and relates the socially networked market to social media marketing. The authors describe the customer as the most important person “in” one’s company.
I gotta say, I was hoping that these next two chapters would share some secret tips and how-tos for making up measurable goals and understanding metrics, but alas it did not. I guess it comes down to a statement from Chapter 15’s opening: “As much as we’ve tried to do so in the previous 14 chapters, diagramming one single playbook or one scientific approach to social media marketing is next to impossible” (237). Every business has different kinds of needs and there will be different ways to meet them as well as different ways that won’t.
- I’m not a marketer. Are there any good guides, blogs, etc. out there that can provide some guidance for a novice like me trying to come up with useful goals and metrics for a company’s SMM plan?
- Is it appropriate to address company culture in a social media marketing proposal?