If You’re Not Positioning Yourself Among the Social Media Masses, then Who Is?

Posted by Joe Franscella

A while back, I tweeted:

The more someone claims to be a social media expert the less of one they become.

The message’s implication was clear: so many people are claiming to be “social media experts” that deciding whom to engage to help you position your company and products on social media platforms is becoming increasingly difficult. The task can become so confusing that many people simply want to bury their heads in the sand and hope that the use of social media in business is just a passing fad.

One of the problems adding to the confusion is how “social media experts” are differentiating themselves. Often it’s done through blogs that espouse lists on the “Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts of Twitter.” Unfortunately, publishing such a list doesn’t make someone an expert. Too often those lists fail when Twitter founder @Jack and other participants with cult-level follower numbers continually defy them.

With that said, there are two questions for this discussion that I want you to consider. 1.) Is it important for IT security vendors to engage the market through social media platforms?  2.) If yes, how should vendors approach and manage activities on these new platforms?

To question 1, the answer is a resounding YES! But, I want to qualify the answer with why it is so important.  The age-old marketing practices of branding, messaging and positioning are among the most powerful reasons why vendors should. Branding, messaging and positioning are the cornerstones of any business (remember what Geoffrey Moore wrote in Crossing the Chasm: …the best technology doesn’t always win). There are millions of buyers, analysts and pundits gathering information via social media platforms and if you’re not monitoring and managing what’s being said about your company, then chances are someone else is.

Click on this link: http://search.twitter.com/, type in the name of your company, product or category and see what’s being discussed on this five million-user community. Any surprises? Is your company even represented, if so how? Is your company’s category waiting to be claimed or are competitors already dominating it? Remember, Twitter is only five million strong, just think of how many people might be discussing your company on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media platforms.

Bottom line — regardless of venue, if you’re not thinking about this platform to extend the branding, messaging and positioning  of your company then someone else is. Do you need to participate? I think so.

With a YES to participation established, let’s move on to the next question: How should vendors approach and manage activities on these new venues?

Again, there are a lot of blog entries and strategy dos and don’ts being published and proselytized. However, the way for you a vendor to approach these venues is in the same way that it would approach any other communications channel: It only makes sense if your company is:

• Confident about what it is and the persona it portrays
• Clear about its products’ unique features and benefits provided
• Aware of which category it fits within
• Clear on how to communicate its value

So, how does a company get to the point of being ready? This type of preparedness within the IT security market develops only through the age-old marketing practices of branding, messaging and positioning, and only under the direction of a seasoned expert.

After your company knows what it is, what it offers and where it resides, then it is time to integrate the exciting world of social media into your overall marketing strategy, which should include both digital and traditional communications. Your company wouldn’t go after the New York Time’s twomillion subscribers without a strategy in place — don’t go after the millions using social media platforms without one either.

By now, you might be saying, “That’s all well said, Joe, but how do we choose a qualified marketing expert to help us put a strategy together?” Do your homework. Engage a firm that has a history of providing successful marketing programs for clients and review those successes against what your vision of success is.

If after all of this, you’re still not convinced that your company needs to engage a marketing strategist to be successful at social media, the only thing I can leave you with is a quote from world renowned oil well firefighter Red Adair:

If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.