Top Social Media Marketing Tactics in an Economic Downturn

Wired recently interviewed Chris Alden, the CEO of Six Apart who believes that blogging will surge during this economic downturn.

But on the flip side, a bad economy will probably lead to an overall uptick in blogging, Alden says. “When you don’t know where else to invest,” he explains, “you invest in yourself.”

This speaks to my recent post regarding the recent WSJ article about eventual cutbacks in new media. As someone who has been through a few of these downturns I can attest to the impact that usually hits marketing first. Companies are already starting to layoff. ClickZ has even begun tracking those layoffs in a new tracker. Included so far are Heavy.com, eBay, Zillow, AdBrite, Triphub and today…Yahoo.

Even in the most stable companies spending tends to freeze, campaigns scale back (or stop), advertising dwindles and creative ideas that don’t cost anything are particularly valued.

To that note, companies looking to continue to create buzz and boost brand value have a whole mass of low hanging social media fruits that can be picked during the downturn:

• Blogging: Alden at Six Apart was right. Blogging is an excellent way to talk about your products, share information and keep customers, investors and prospects upbeat.  To keep in mind:
  • Blog often. If not everyday, several times a week.
  • Content is KING. Make sure your posts provide value to the reader.
  • Be visual. Photos and videos (even if done casually with a personal video camera can be effective)
  • Join the discussion on other blogs to proliferate link-backs and to drive interest in your content and opinions.
  • Share posts on other social media sites — Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Delicious, FriendFeed, etc.
• Microblogging: Twitter is the hot one here but Pownce, Plurk and Identi.ca all fit the bill when it comes to microblogging technologies. Increasingly realtime news is reported on these sites and reporters are paying attention. Which means it’s a great place to make sure your news is on their radar.  Consider blogging on behalf of the company (such as our new http://twitter.com/CAInfoGov) but also have individuals post who can be more interactive, more casual, and can show a little personality.
  • If microblogging on behalf of the company, promote through email signatures, in newsletters, correspondence with editors, customers and prospects as a way to keep up on company news.
  • If microblogging as an individual, feel free to be personal but to intersperse with tidbits about your company, the products, events, etc. Be thoughtful about posting information that may reflect poorly on yourself or the company (drunk tweeting at 2AM on a Saturday night!).
  • Content is KING. Be interesting. Include links.
  • Engage in conversation. Find people that matter to you or your business and pay attention so that you can reply and create dialogue.
  • Ask questions and let the Twitterverse be your guide. You’d be surprised at the great information that comes back.
  • Post from shows or on the road to help build hype.
• Facebook/MySpace (And other Social Networks): Millions of users at your fingertips. The trick is finding the right audience. I would argue this is a little easier to do on Facebook which is better set up to accomodate groups. It also tends to be better suited for B2B whereas MySpace is often more B2C.
  • Start a group for your company and products on Facebook or MySpace. Post information useful to employees, alumni, prospects and customers: events, videos, upcoming webcasts, new product announcements, etc.
  • Look for groups within your industry where you can post comments and information. Again, be part of the conversation.
  • Be thoughtful when accepting colleagues and customers into your personal Facebook…either become familiar with privacy settings (create special lists of who can see what) or use it only for work. Try to appear professional.
  • Look for social networks in your industry. For example if you are in the world of IT, http://it.toolbox.com/ may be the community for you. If you are in finance, check out Tip’d.  Put Google to work to help you find communities that may be a good fit for you. Post relevant links and participate in the conversation.
• LinkedIn: LinkedIn is pretty much the defacto business networking site these days so I’m always surprised when business professionals don’t have a profile. Having a network of colleagues past and present is like having your own goldmine. You can dip in whenever you need advice, are trying to fill a job (or looking for a new one!) and you can help your colleagues do the same.
  • Guy Kawasaki has an excellent post that says everything I might have wanted to say on this service: Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn
• Video: This one might cost you a little bit of money but really, a small investment now could float you through some tough times. When I worked at Sybase, the company invested $10k in a video camera, lights, a green screen, and production software, and transformed a conference room into a studio. They can quickly and easily produce all sorts of videos. Check out this video to get a glimpse of the studio and what they can do with it. Even if you don’t want to go to that expense, a personal video camera can help you make fast, casual videos on the fly.
  • What can you film? Interviews with customers, whiteboard demonstrations, interview your own execs.
  • Create short video blog posts with execs or product managers giving opinions and updates.
  • Post to YouTube, Google Video, AOL Video, Seesmic, Vimeo, etc. Redundancy isn’t a bad thing.
  • It’s almost the holiday season — what about a fun video of your crew singing Let it Snow or something of the sort? Post on YouTube, send the link out and let your personality shine through.
  • Post links to Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, delicious, etc.

Above all, just be creative. Engage in dialogue and provide great content that shows how you rule the roost when it comes to your products and your industry.

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Tagged as: blogging, blogs, budgets, Chris Alden, community, economy, facebook, Google Video, guy kawasaki, internet marketing, linkedin, marketing, microblogging, MySpace, public relations, social media, social networks, twitter, video, youtube