Getting Back to Basics

By Sandra Glaser Cheek – Director, Client Services

Often when we work with clients on their channel communications strategies, our social media recommendations bring on a mountain of questions and concerns. There is a lot of apprehension around developing a social media strategy. Questions like getting executive buy-in, integration of internal teams that will engage partners in social technologies, which tools and platforms to use, etc., often come up. Not that these aren’t good questions – they are. But they really miss the point. I’d recommend borrowing a basic journalism approach and starting with the “Five W’s” (and one “H”) questions instead:

WHO are you trying to reach?

WHAT are your objectives, and what are you trying to accomplish?

WHEN and HOW is the best time and way to reach them?

WHERE do these people spend time online?

WHY do they care about what you have to say? What is the value that you bring to the table/conversation?

When formulating your channel social media strategy, what are some of the questions you think are important to start with?