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When It Comes to Social Media, You’ve Got to Think Big & Act Small…

… No matter how big or how small you are.

I had the good fortune of catching a number of great sessions at the IABC Social Media Conference in New York last week, many of them by representatives of large companies like Nokia and Virgin USA. Many of those sessions reinforced the importance of a high-level approach that integrates social media with marketing and communications strategies when developing and maintaining a social media program. To echo the smart words of Julie Cottineau from Virgin: You don’t need a social media strategy; you need a brand-building strategy. This is something I find myself emphasizing to companies of all sizes, but especially to smaller organizations.

Because smaller organizations often forego strategy, it’s easy to believe they’re at a disadvantage as social media evolves. Not necessarily true!  In fact, being small has a real upside when it comes to social media.

I’ve worked with organizations on both the small and large end of the size spectrum – from solopreneur and small arts companies to teams within global businesses – and it’s clear that large organizations tend to have an advantage when it comes to social media: they’re already thinking big. Most larger companies have strategic marketing and communications objectives, which are tied to overall brand goals and monitored regularly against metrics and benchmarks. Forward-thinking large companies are using social media platforms and tools as channels for achieving those larger goals, rather than as completely separate programs or functionalities.  By contrast, smaller organizations tend to focus more on tactics: smaller reach, less people to do the work and limited access to resources or agencies means that many small companies generate limited campaigns, forego strategy, and often don’t have a process in place for monitoring and measuring.

Despite this, smaller organizations do have real advantage when it comes to social media: they’re more collaborative. Smaller staff means fewer resources, but it also means that communication is more clear and direct, cross-functional cooperation is more organic and, oftentimes, team members are engaged in multiple functions within the organization. One of the greatest challenges facing large organizations is a real lack of collaboration among teams implementing in shared social media spaces. (I’ve found that it’s actually not uncommon to see a deep divide between marketing and communications teams using social media – even in shared spaces.) For smaller organizations, collaboration is often as easy as walking down the hall or having a conference call with a colleague or two. For larger organizations, this often involves some culture change. But without cross-functional collaboration, it’s difficult to share customer insights and ensure consistent, meaningful engagement.

When it comes to social media, then, organizations of all sizes need to think big and act small.

• Thinking Big: Social media efforts must be tied to a larger strategy.  No shortcuts here.  Before starting out with any social media initiatives, make sure that your group or organization has done some solid planning.  What do you want to accomplish with your marketing and communications efforts, overall?  What does success look like?  How will you measure?
• Acting Small:  Not matter how big your organization is, start moving towards collaboration.  With the ever-expanding number of touchpoints you have with your customers, it’s critical that all of your teams have access to shared insight and best practices.  What’s more, by bringing your teams together on campaigns and strategy development, you’re likely to find more cost-effective leverage.

There’s not one-size-fits-all strategy for using social media.  The uses are as different as your customers.  But thinking big and acting small is key for organizations of all sizes.