by: Jennifer Russell
Whether you’re a big fish or a guppy, take the time to SWOT before you attempt to jump into the social media pond. SWOT analysis is a great tool for auditing a company and its environment. SWOT should be the first stage of planning and helps marketers to focus on key potential issues. The SWOT technique will remind you of good ol’ fashioned “pros and cons” lists. The main benefit is to make you think deeper and more strategically about your social media plan.
If you have already started a Facebook, Twitter, etc. campaign and your fans/followers numbers/interactions have plateaued, you should give this a shot.
Basic SWOT Principles:
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- Strengths: attributes of the person or company that are helpful to achieving the objective(s).
- Weaknesses: attributes of the person or company that are harmful to achieving the objective(s).
- Opportunities: external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective(s).
- Threats: external conditions which could do damage to the objective(s).
- Pertaining to Social Media Campaigns:
Strengths
- penetration or market reach
- active community members who are willing to become brand evangelists
- resources in terms of time and manpower, your team is able to respond quickly and effectively
- management or the C-level executives support the social media medium and give you the go ahead
Weaknesses
- trouble scaling or maintaining a social media campaign
- lack of tools or resources to track and monitor social media campaign results
- not effective social media presence or campaign, meaning goals are not being met
- tough to train or convince management team on social media principles
Opportunities
- creating/joining online presence on sites where the company currently doesn’t exist, i.e. facebook
- new target or niche markets that are untapped
- promotions, discounts, offers that can be utilized through social media platforms
- partnerships with a publisher or advertiser
- penetration into a new geographical market
Threats
- macro factors such as economy, will this affect your user base or your campaign?
- competitor is going after the same space or same audience with similar campaign
- is the current campaign sustainable, can it continue?
- what obstacles stand in the way of success and failure?
Always remember when using SWOT:
- Every strength is a potential weakness
- Every weakness is a potential strength
- Every opportunity is a potential threat
- Every threat is a potential opportunity
If you really do not have the time to commit to a social marketing campaign you should consider hiring a professional. Hire a social media manager if you:
- don’t have time to learn how social media works and integrates with your present marketing/advertising.
- don’t consider yourself a very social and interactive person, especially with your target audience.
- want to launch a large social media campaign and need experts to help get things off the ground.
- tend to defer project work to experts rather than attempt to try it yourself.
Whatever you decide, take the time to analyze your current efforts, competition, and goals! Good luck!
Jennifer is a seo specialist and social media manager in Pittsburgh, PA. Jennifer, under the renowned professionals at Higher Images, has achieved unsurpassed results for prosperous companies all over the world. Will your company be next?
