Three Instantly Effective Social Media Strategies

No budget for developing a comprehensive Web strategy to engage your customers? Try this trio of simple and quick innovations courtesy of Alexandra Samuel

By Alexandra Samuel

Posted on Conversation Starter: July 27, 2009 1:45 PM

If you've got an experienced social media team, a solid budget and an appetite for innovation, you can create an original online presence that engages your customers or supporters in an entirely new kind of online experience.

But many organizations lack the time, budget or experience to start from scratch. That doesn't limit your social media options to a generic corporate news blog or a standard-issue Facebook page. Here are three great options for robust social media presences that let you manage cost and risk by building on existing tools and established best practices.

1. Suggestion Box

What is it: Invite your customers, supporters or employees to submit their ideas and suggestions for new products, services or improvements. Community members get to rate submissions so the best ideas rise to the top; it's your job to ensure top suggestions get implemented.

Great for: Consumer-facing brands open to product/service input; member-driven NGOs looking for policy or service ideas.

Examples: Dell Ideastorm , MyStarbucks Idea, Threadless

How to do it: Build your own site using a content management system; many now offer a Digg-style submission and voting system as an add-on. Or use a pre-fab solution like the Salesforce software that powers Dell's site, or the turn-key Uservoice, designed specifically for managing customer suggestions.

Where to spend: Invest in the implementation of a few user-submitted ideas as soon as possible; then use your media team to publicize the fact that you're listening. Once people know their ideas will turn into action, it will be easy to motivate participation.

Where to save: Don't build your own submission-and-rating system from scratch. There are lots of turn-key options available.

Where to get help: Make sure you have a community manager who can reach out to potential early adopters—like the customers who already blog or tweet about your project. And if your product development team is less than thrilled about taking direction from consumers, hire an organizational development expert who can help you evolve into a more nimble and responsive organization.

2. Widget

What is it: Create an interactive badge your customers or supporters can place on their Facebook pages or blogs. A widget can display your latest news, deals or contests, invite Twitter-style updates, or solicit donations.

Great for: Popular brands with young, web-savvy customers who love to wear your logo; non-profits with young, eager-to-help supporters.

Examples: innocent drinks, Dove Fresh Takes, Ask Your Lawmaker

How to do it: Use a service like SproutBuilder or WidgetBox to create a simple widget with content updates powered by your RSS feed; for non-standard approaches, a web developer or programmer can create something from scratch.

Where to spend: Design skills and interactivity to make your widget stand out from the pack; outreach and incentives to encourage people to install the widget.

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