Affinitive’s Social Media Playground

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Affinitive’s Social Media Playground

Evolving Beyond Communities of Unconnected Communities (Part 1 of 2)

September 28th, 2009 by Warren Ackerman

puzzleIn four separate client conversations over the last couple of months I’ve heard nearly the exactly the same phrase - “We have several successful social media efforts, but we’re missing a 'hub' that ties them all together.”  Welcome to the strategic phase of social media marketing.

This lack of integrated strategy is largely a result of two factors:

  • the experimentation encouraged in Steve Rubel’s Digital Embassy strategy
  • the relative ease involved with launching a presence

On the surface an integrated approach seems ideal but ultimately it must be driven by the key objective.  An Embassy strategy works well if you’re building up natural search results or brand awareness but not so well if you’re objective is customer acquisition and deeper relationships with customers.  Without integration, there’s no clear path for the consumer to take the casual relationship to a deeper one.

As I started writing I realized there was a good amount to cover, so instead of tackling this topic all in one go, I figured I’d break it into three manageable chunks.  Next up will be working through the various integration opportunities and reviewing the potential road blocks.

Category: Strategy

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  • The Digital Embassy strategy generates an entirely new organizational staffing structure involving teams of ambassadors...who gravitate in and out of the center away from the traditional pyramid - top down...which is no longer working...The customer, fan, and member sit in the center and management is inter-linked at different levels of access..This is a very important strategic thread..to social web success.
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