Educate…Inform…then Execute!

Made Essential Reading on 11 August 2010 Felix Hemsley



A recent discussion gained pace over at www.social-collective.com which looked at how we work with clients on social media projects, and my comment on the topic got both myself and author @JonnyStark thinking.

The world is becoming increasingly aware of social media and what social media is. I get far fewer blank faces when I try to explain what I do in my working day and find that more and more of my peers offline are making the transition to the online social environment across the wealth of platforms available to us all.

However, it made me realise that certain precautions should be taken as the wider world becomes more aware of social media and its place in our every day lives. The most important of these to me was that whilst more people have a notion of what social media is, that is no precursor to say that they understand it. This should be a serious consideration when dealing with clients, especially new clients. More and more I’m experiencing clients coming forward saying “we need a social media campaign”. Sure that’s great, clients being forthcoming with work I should be biting their hand off, right? Wrong. Remember, social media is not always the answer, or the appropriate approach!

We are often told that we should ‘listen’ when we begin every social media project, but in my opinion the first step in any social media project is in fact to educate. A client that better understands social media and is not clouded by any preconceptions or advice from their peers, is far more likely to be onboard and understand the intricacies of the projects and accept certain issues which may arise.  This in turn makes the execution easier, as clients have the knowledge too question and interrogate, rather than simply naively accepting what we say in some empty trust they have for us. I live and breathe Social Media day in, day out and I have to consciously remind myself that what I class as generic, worn tales of how we should be open and honest, not hide behind banners and talk about social media being a marathon not a sprint, are in fact new stories to a large proportion of the client world.

One of the biggest differentiators with Social Media marketing is that the industry moves so fast. With new platforms and tools appearing all the time we’re inundated with options to meet different objectives, and new ways to meet existing ones. If these developments open up opportunities for clients, they should be considered and assessed and then shared with the client as another stage of the education proces, not just a promise of KPIs being met. If we as marketeers become clouded by what are rapidly becoming accepted norms or generic social media offerings, the strategies we have will stagnate and fail to achieve the objectives as the industry evolves and leave us behind.

Campaign objectives and strategies should always be on our minds as we broaden our social media horizons, asking how new technologies can enhance existing campaigns, and not solely how could they be used on the next one to come along…

Maybe you find it hard to educate your clients, or they push back on you when you try to implement new technologies because they don’t fully understand the technologies? What challenges do you face in this area, and what solutions have you implimented to tackle this? Do you ensure that you do educate your clients?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.


Category: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , ,

  • Jonny Stark

    Hi Felix,nnNice to see that it got you thinking and that you followed up by complementing your thoughts from the comments!nnThe problem, at least in my personal experience, we now commonly face is that a lot of clients have gone to seminars and listened to ‘experts’ who haven’t actually tried to deliver a social campaign in their life… but have read a lot of theories, blog posts and watched videos on YouTube.nnThey then believe that they know as much as you do (if not more). Trying to re-educate them is harder than starting from scratch and they aren’t always that willing to accept your point of view.nnThe solution? We usually have to be patient, and gently steer them back on to the right course. It takes a bit of time, but each time we deliver another campaign or project or workshop we win them over little by little. nnThe amount of ‘gooros’ in our industry is in the thousands, according to Twitter biogs in any case. The problem is that the number of people in the UK with any real understanding AND experience of delivering is in the tens.nnThanks for sharing your thoughts!nnJonny

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the reply, Jonny.

    I completely agree, and hadn’t considered that some may in fact perceive that they are the expert, and maybe as an extension to that, we are perceived as simply execution artists to their per-meditated strategy.

    It is certainly one of the most ironc traits within social media; those in the know are discreet and recognised by those whom understand and matter most. Self proclaimers and charlatans are forever critiqued, and are somehow blinkered to the perceptions of others as they are undoubtedly comforted by their egos.

    There is a shift in this I believe, and the proclaimers are realising that they will be outed and shamed. If not, maybe they just make the rest of us look better in the long run…

    I think the risk often is even more evident where clients employ consultants on a short term basis, believe they have absorbed all the information they could ever want, and then go bounding into the space without any firther guidance or consideration. Hence why I suppose we see so many issues with large corporations getting it wrong…

    Thanks again for your comment, and for the iniitial inspiration.

    Felix

  • Jonny Stark

    Hi Felix,

    Nice to see that it got you thinking and that you followed up by complementing your thoughts from the comments!

    The problem, at least in my personal experience, we now commonly face is that a lot of clients have gone to seminars and listened to 'experts' who haven't actually tried to deliver a social campaign in their life… but have read a lot of theories, blog posts and watched videos on YouTube.

    They then believe that they know as much as you do (if not more). Trying to re-educate them is harder than starting from scratch and they aren't always that willing to accept your point of view.

    The solution? We usually have to be patient, and gently steer them back on to the right course. It takes a bit of time, but each time we deliver another campaign or project or workshop we win them over little by little.

    The amount of 'gooros' in our industry is in the thousands, according to Twitter biogs in any case. The problem is that the number of people in the UK with any real understanding AND experience of delivering is in the tens.

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

    Jonny

  • felixhemsley

    Thanks for the reply, Jonny.

    I completely agree, and hadn't considered that some may in fact perceive that they are the expert, and maybe as an extension to that, we are perceived as simply execution artists to their per-meditated strategy.

    It is certainly one of the most ironi traits within social media; those in the know are discreet and recognised by those whomj understand. Self proclaimers and charlatans are forever critiqued, and are somehow blinkered to the perceptions of others as they are comforted by their egos.

    There is a shift in this I believe, and the proclaimers are realising that they will be outed and shamed. If not, maybe they just make the rest of us look better int he long run…

    I think the risk often is even more evident where clients employ consultants on a short term basis, believe they have absorbed all the information they could ever want, and then go bounding into the space without any firther guidance or consideration. Hence why I suppose we see so many issues with large corps. getting it wrong…

    Thanks again for your comment, and for the iniitial inspiration.

    Felix

Recent Posts

Tag Cloud

Audio B2B B2B marketing Barcode Blog Charity CNN co-op fund Code Content Content Marketing co op co op management design Digital digital marketing Email email marketing email marketing tips Essential Communications Facebook Flash fund management Google html Internet iPhone IT channel Javascript marketing mdf Media Mobile planning PR QR Retail SEO Social Media technology Twitter Video Web workshop YouTube

Meta

The Essential Blog is proudly powered by WordPress and the SubtleFlux theme.

Copyright © The Essential Blog