Mon, April 27, 2009
The heat is on for live entertainment organizations to keep pace with the ever changing consumer behavior of ticket buyers and the emergence of social media platforms is the hot topic at hand. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Vimeo – the list of new media opportunities is endless and depending on the day and the direction of the wind, many Marketing Directors I’ve been speaking with are getting pressure from their higher-ups (including Board members) to engage in one or all of these new technologies. Essentially what is happening with the rate of change in consumer behavior and the newfound sense of urgency a recession brings arts and entertainment organizations, is that many of these Marketing Directors are being forced into reactive positions and, I believe, are right now being set-up for failure beyond their control.
Once you become reactive with technology, you might as well jump in a hamster wheel. You can’t expect to keep up with the speed of technology. If history has told us anything, you can guarantee the list of popular social media outlets will only expand over the next few years so treating them as checklist items will leave you in a perpetual chase. So, creating a Twitter account for the sake of creating one will only turn out to be a huge waste of time without an underlying strategy of what you are aiming to achieve.
If you look closely, the one core consistency across the movement of social media outlets is the need for a sound communications strategy – both outbound and inbound. And, without question, executing a communications strategy within social media has a heavy cost (which I think is well worth it) if you expect to do it right. It’s not just money – it’s also not just time – it’s the cost of change that is associated with the fundamental core of social media that requires all facets of an organization to participate in if you expect to succeed.
Organizations can’t think “Twitter strategy” or “Facebook strategy” – they must think “communications strategy” and aim to formulate how a Twitter or Facebook (or any tool for that matter) can help you advance the main goals of your communications strategy. Furthermore, a strong, comprehensive communications strategy is executed at all levels – not just on the shoulders of your marketing department.
This is a fairly complex issue and I can write for hours on this topic, but for the sake of time (and your sanity) let me talk about some super-basic examples that I believe illustrate this point.
For outbound communications, in a social media driven strategy, this means news announcements are no longer simply distributed as press releases – they are adapted to also include a distribution path to the social media outlets you have opted to participate in. You have 140 or so characters to deliver this announcement via a tweet, Facebook status update or text alert. This requires a process in your organization to closely coordinate press and public relations initiatives directly with those handling you ongoing marketing strategy. You get out of social media what you put in to it – so, if you are operating a Twitter, Facebook and MySpace presence, you can see the challenges of creating and distributing timely, relevant content and how the internal coordination and process of understanding this is paramount. I can tell you first-hand that nothing angers your core customers/fans more than when they read a major news announcement or receive a special discount offer from your brand from a random website or newspaper rather than hearing it directly from you first. Those committing to you (by giving their contact information or ‘friending’ you) means they expect you to commit to them that they are part of your inner-circle, not just the general public. This sounds easier said than done – but, if an organization can wrap their hands around this and build a process that creates and distributes content this way, they are essentially building the framework for long-term success in the social media space no matter who the major players are.
For inbound communications, there is another critical issue that many organizations we have worked with have fallen victim to. In a social media driven strategy, organizations must also understand the ongoing dialogue with consumers in real-time has no boundaries – questions about customer service, issues with their ticket buying experience, questions about cast member performance schedules – these questions will be asked and your organization will have the responsibility to listen and act, quickly. Social media is all about ‘the now’ – it’s about community and conversation and you need to be prepared to have a process in place where you can respond effectively. And, from what we’ve learned, this means a process that incorporates all departments and a commitment by all that they will need to be prepared to support. In short, if you ask – they will tell. And if you’re not prepared to respond in a meaningful way, you should seriously consider avoiding taking an active role in social media and play the role of the lurker until you’re ready to commit.
Both of the major points illustrated above about the changes of outbound and inbound communication come with a heavy cost. In fact, I think the cost is ultimately so heavy that I believe marketing plans will begin (and have begun) to go through one of the single biggest transitions of our time – a transition that makes the marketing plan a new found responsibility for all facets of the organization to truly participate in. Your Marketing Director (and marketing team) can’t do this all themselves. In fact, I can say with confidence, that they need more resources to take advantage of the opportunities that social media can bring. Questions like, “What’s your organizations policy for bootleg video on YouTube?” or “What’s your policy for fans using your logo on their Facebook page?” or “What’s your stance on how acceptable consumer criticism is in your MySpace comments?” are just a sample of issues that need to be addressed company-wide and come with all kinds of costs, time and resources along with collaboration across disciplines (i.e., legal, press, management, etc.)
Your marketing team will bring the social media strategy to the table and they can lead the charge but, at the same time, they are destined for failure if their internal resources continue to get cut and if they don’t have the full support and buy-in from the entire organization to contribute to this new way of doing business.
A commitment of transparency, customer service and the investment in funding the existence of your brand in new communities where consumers will make a public mark (both good and bad) on your brand are the realities that social media brings to your brand. These are big changes in how brands are marketed and I think there needs to be a very honest conversation at all organizations on how and when they prepared to tackle this new way of marketing head-on.
There is a lot more to this topic that I can ramble on for hours about – I’m more than happy to extend this conversation onward, so email me if you have a bone to pick with me over this topic. :)
Here's a great rant on the topic that even Seth Godin chimed in on (scroll down to the comments section after you read it).
Signup 
About 
Archives
