One of my projects is to plan a consumer engagement calendar. I’m a strong advocate of responsive, instantaneous and relevant two way communication with our consumers. Therefore, I was a bit concerned when I was asked to build a structure for our conversations over the course of a calendar year? Is that necessary or are we over thinking?
Plan for the predictable
As much as I’d like to just throw myself into interacting with consumers, I come to realize a smart marketer should indeed have a plan in mind to maximize engagement. Lots of our conversational subjects evolve around current events. Many current events cannot be predicted, but a lot of them can. For example, music and movie awards like the Golden Globe, sports events like World Cup, festivals like Fashion Week, religious holidays like Christmas, cultural events like Chinese New Year, etc. These are all emotional opportunities for companies to start relevant conversations to build and deepen relationships. We can plan this! We can create experiences for consumers!
An engagement calendar is one that maps all events to relevant brand related subjects. And all social media channels should sync with it. Of course, you may want to adapt the message slightly to fit with specific channels. For example you should not have the exact same status update on FB and Twitter. So what are brand related subjects? Think about how your products can enhance the experience for a particular event? If you are a wine maker, you may want to plan for relevant conversations around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and any other festive events. Beer companies are good at this. Recall how many beer ads you’ve seen during SuperBowl? It’s important to remember that all rules of engagement still apply. No conversation should be forced. It’s not about broadcasting. It’s about enhancing and adding value to consumers. Only start a conversation when you can add value, and have it with people who care.
Manage the unpredictable
Having that said, the calendar should not be a rigid one. Companies need to react to current events fast. How about sharing your point of view about the Haiti earthquake? What is your company stance on global warming? No one likes to talk to a boring person. Interesting people always have a point of view. Not everyone agrees with your viewpoints, but hey, that’s who you are. Who likes an eager pleaser?! Therefore, it’s useful to develop a clear personality for your company, and have clear idea what your company represents. Know what subjects you should react to and what not. Develop a clear set of rules of engagement. You may find it uncomfortable to present strong opinions, but that makes you stand out.
Great stuff Prima!
ReplyDeleteI think you're really on to something here.
The question for most companies is how to plan ahead while also setting themselves up for quick, reactive content.
Great post. Love the fact that the thought of trying to pre-plan a dialogue with consumers was a concept that initially rubbed. Was the same for me too! I consider this is a good sign for true appreciation of what social offers brands and consumers alike.
ReplyDeleteIf a brand can successfully roadmap their activity (e.g. when events are happening that they are sponsoring, announcements they are making etc) they can use this info to make their social presences much more valuable to them and their fans. Of course, having the desire and ability to dynamically react to conversations that organically occur is equally important too ☺
Thanks Dan!
ReplyDeleteYou are totally right, Frank. What I also like about having an engagement calendar is that we can then identify gaps in content and sparks ideas. We could've done a lot more around the World Cup had we thought about it more. But hey, we have the Olympics coming up next. Plenty of time to plan for the right content to be released at the right time :)