A couple of weeks ago we talked about “Tops-Down Corporate Social Media” and how an organization’s senior executives should be leading the social media charge for their business. Today, we’re going to take a slightly different approach on corporate social media, one built around choosing a strategy. In this age of social media and social networking it seems like new platforms pop up almost on a daily basis. We all know the big names out there, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Companies are looking to have more of a social media presence in their marketplace but they must first decide which platform is the best vehicle to drive their business towards targeted consumers. There is no limit to how diverse a company’s social media strategy can be but is diversity really the goal? No it’s not. The real goal is reaching your customers and putting a message in front of as many of them as possible. Organizations need to be wary of stretching themselves too thin across too many platforms. Instead focus your efforts where you’ll get the best results. Debra Donston-Miller has a nice article on InformationWeek.com about choosing the social network that makes the most sense for your business. She brings up several good points, including this quote from Jason Breed, Global Social Media practice lead for Accenture and co-founder of www.Hashtagsocialmedia.com:

“It does not matter if you put up a Facebook page while

your customers are complaining on Twitter.”

In other words, know what platforms your customers are using and, taking it a step further, how they are using them. Once you have solved this equation, then you can dedicate your organization’s resources in the right way instead of taking a “throw it against the wall and see what sticks” approach. Again, a lot of companies have the desire to establish a social media presence but they have no real purpose behind their efforts other than simply wanting to be involved in the phenomenon. Queue Jason Breed again:

“You need to do social on purpose–otherwise, you are

simply moving for the sake of motion.”

I suggest you read Debra’s article on the matter as she talks to a couple of business owners about how they developed their company’s social media strategy. It might make you rethink your strategy or lack thereof altogether. For more discussion on this issue, attend our Innovation Forum, June 7^th and 8^th in Atlanta, to hear PwC’s Carlos Bermudez speak on “Corporate Use of Social Networking to Promote Collaboration.”