Comments on: A Best Practice in Social Media Marketing

By: goodness in sharing… » Social Media best practices meme - points for a strong social media strategy foundation

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:08:27 +0000

[...] Beth Harte raises the point of ‘provide a platform‘. Give you consumers a place to chat, get them going. And I really like that she cuts to the chase and adds, “Why wait for those limited occasions?”. Lead your consumers with a place to chat if they don’t have one. And if they do, give them extensions there to help them talk. [...]

By: beth

beth — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:39 +0000

@James, thanks for stopping by. I think while companies might get excited about providing a platform, they first really need to investigate where their customers are and see if there is a need for a platform. If one exists, join the conversation and let your customers/prospect/etc. know you can be found there. If not, then consider providing a platform. By no means is my best practice a call to action for creating platforms for the sake of it. The decision to provide a platform should match the goals and objectives a company has set for itself.

By: James

James — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:57:00 +0000

Beth,

You're right there are many ways to provide a platform and selecting the platform for the conversation is really important. There are a wide variety of platforms and it makes sense to provide multiple platforms...the more the better! There should be platforms everywhere.

The power of multiple platforms could be aided through aggregation of the information, a hub of social interaction and conversation. The social message should be accessible and cross platform. Customer support/social forums like Get Satisfaction would be a great place to collect the conversation.

A variety of media formats too. Disqus with Seesmic video comments...big fan...

By: Beth Harte

Beth Harte — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:37:00 +0000

@Eric, I feel bad for you if you know Frank that well! Kidding! But you are exactly right, we are back to where we started. The conversations being had are just amazing! Looking forward to meeting you at SMBU in a few weeks!

By: eric@urbaneapts.com

eric@urbaneapts.com — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:44:00 +0000

Beth; Looking forward to following the updates, congratulations on being selected to contribute!

It is almost as if we have come full circle on some things. We all remember the local drug store, drycleaner, hardware store, grocer, etc, where the store owner knew your name, took time to talk with you, sometimes knew your whole family, knew what was going on, those businesses referred to as Mom and Pop Businesses, which have been replaced all across the country with big box stores, chains, etc. While there certainly are still some left, most are gone. However, I feel like I “know” Frank @Comcastcares, and I feel like, well, he really does care about how to solve my cable problem, and he can and does solve it much faster and with less aggravation. Are we on our way back to really connecting again? There are so very many opportunities i9n front of us all with these changing times.