In 2010 the words “Social Media” & “Social Networking” became buzzwords as the world shifted focus on websites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Without a doubt this was the year to tweet your feelings and stories or friend or de-friend people on Facebook.

Many companies jumped into Social Networking bandwagon immediately and some of them have been able to capture the benefits. Others on the other hand failed miserably.

The big question for many CPA firms that are faced with the decision of Social Networking remains, and that is: “What will our Social Networking strategy be?” or “How do we take the best out of Social Networking without consuming us?”

Here are some pointers gracefully provided to us by Mr. Brian Tankersley. Brian is a well-known writer, speaker, and CPA that focuses on technology matters for accountants. He is also the editor and publisher of the CPA Tech Blog.

Brian points out that one of the very first things to settle on, when it comes down to integrating Social Networking into our businesses is to make the decision on our message and our targeted audience. Basically to come up with a strategy!

Creating the Social Networking Strategy:

  • The message: A few examples —  “we are smart & here for you”, “we are sorry, let us make it right”, “we rock, our clients say we rock” or “we have new products and services”
  • The goals: They need to be realistic and obtainable– “service existing customers”, “capture new geographic markets”
  • The audience: Who do you want to reach — “vertical industries”,  “prospective clients” or “potential recruits”
  • Communication channel: How will the message be communicated – “snail mail”, “Face-to-Face”, “E-mail”, “Twitter”, LinkedIn”, “Facebook” or “Blogs”
  • Information: What you want others to buy or know about your business – “areas of expertise”, “special offerings”, or “things in common”.
  • Staff: Do you have the right staff and resources to do this or should you outsource it
  • Measure: It is important to know how exactly will success / failure be measured – “followers”, “Google alerts”, “% of prospects and leads”, or “special web sites for Social Media analytics

 

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