So the book is a couple years old, so what? The Acronym POST still works in Social Media Marketing. Here’s a snapshot.
“Groundswell” was, and still is, a “ground-breaking” book. Even though the co-authors are heading different directions these days (Charlene Li heads up The Altimeter Group and Josh Bernoff, still at Forrester, has co-produced a book called “Empowered,”), the acronym “POST” still guides our thinking when we talk with clients about the emerging Social Media Marketing landscape. Follow along…we’ll use an emerging industry as an example.
P: People. What people are you trying to connect with? Here’s a for instance: you want gearheads to fall in love with your electric car. You research and find that a large percentage of influencers are sharing information about this emerging industry on a few blogs. That’s where your “people” are, so that’s where you should plan on interacting with them.
O: Objective. But why are you wanting to connect with them? Great question. Do you want to sell them an electric car? Do you want them to be aware that electric cars are coming — eventually — but there’s a heck of a lot of work to be done (electric grid, availability of charging stations, relationships with businesses that might have a charging station…the list could go on).
Having an objective is key. Sounds trite, but it’s true with social media marketing: “Why do you want to do this?” The road to business heck is paved with social media launches without objectives.
S: Strategy. Note how the strategy comes AFTER you figure out what people you’re connecting with and whether your business marketing objectives are aligned with what you’ll find in the social landscape.
In this case, your strategy may well be to launch your own blog about electric cars and use dialogue to raise awareness about the industry — so there’s awareness, in turn, of your services for the electric car industry (whatever those may be).
T: Technology. Ah-ha! Blog may not be the “thing” for you in this case. This is why Charlene and Josh put the “T” at the end. Tech stuff may change: maybe you should have an iPad app that helps people find your special electric vehicle charging stations. Or maybe the blog makes sense — but the tech you use is a killer blogging as a service platform.
Funny enough that this book STILL gets mentioned as the go-to for setting your business (or personal) Social Media Marketing priorities. Or it’s not funny – it’s a great acronym, POST, and a great book.
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