Over the last few months, we have been fulfilling our clients requests for blogs, Facebook pages, YouTube channels and Twitter accounts. While, on first blush, it seems that these tools are easily set up, there are many behind-the-scenes tools and tactics that make them really work for your company. Then, diligence and commitment is required to gain real benefit from them over time. We emphasize the importance of developing a strategy up front, getting buy-in from key contributors, and training staff. In some cases, we provide ongoing support where a company is short on internal resources.

From monitoring what’s out there, to actively finding opportunities to contribute thought leadership, there is a lot to consider. Many of these activities are hard to measure, like the activities that make up a PR campaign.  In the end, though, the impact is as important as getting good press vs. getting no press.  Companies know they need to play, that they can’t sit the game out.

Once a company gets their feet wet, it doesn’t take long for them to get comfortable with these new tools, and they are ready to refine and improve on them. That is why we help to automate as much as possible, so the human resources are spent on critical thinking, like how to respond to a blog post on a top industry blog, what to write in their own blog or what the company’s policy should be for their employees’ online activities.

Tomorrow, I present some of these ideas and client case studies for staff at KGA, who are using social media, but want to improve on their already impressive programs. We will explore getting the most out of thought leadership across all mediums, streamlining social media tools to support each other, and developing corporate social media policy that supports the brand and empowers employees.