Where does social media fit in your marketing strategy?

At one point or another every social entrepreneur will confront the question of what role social media should play in their marketing strategy.  And while there is some evidence emerging as to the effectiveness of reaching customers via the likes of Facebook and Twitter, there are no universally accepted conclusions for social entrepreneurs to subscribe to.

Despite the lack of consensus, however, there are some important considerations being fleshed-out in the blogosphere.  For example, Anthony Miyazaki makes some very important observations regarding customer engagement via social media.  Among other valid points, Miyazaki highlights the need for true two-way interaction with customers.  Social entrepreneurs would be well advised to follow his idea for authentic interaction; and not simply racking up “Likes” and “Followers.”

Another important consideration is related to how much you rely and build your business on a social media platform.  For example, if your entire customer engagement process is contained within the Facebook application, guess who owns that data.  You guessed, Facebook.  John Jantsch, the creator of Duct Tape Marketing, gets into this topic on his blog.  Jantsch points out that business owners should not consider Facebook their ‘house.’  He likens the idea of relying on it too much to renovating your neighbor’s house.  And while it can be cool to have a party at your neighbor’s house, the goal is to develop the relationship and invite the party back to your house.

So, how are you implementing social media in your marketing strategy?

Groupon or Moveon: What are the options?

With much of the media attention covering Groupon’s pending $25 billion IPO, many social entrepreneurs may be looking to explore using Groupon’s services to promote their organization.  Even more so, many social entrepreneurs may be taking this time to reevaluate their entire marketing strategy.  We maintain that it is never a bad time to give such questions some critical thought.

So have you jumped on the Groupon daily-deal bandwagon?  Why wouldn’t you?  For many cash strapped nonprofits and social enterprises Groupon’s business model offers a way to advertise to would be customers without putting investing cash up-front.  Sure, your organization needs to be prepared to offer a discount but this expense is not paid until an actual sale is made.  This is great news for many small organizations.

Despite the great news for organizations, Groupon is not an option for many; at least not for a while.  This is because in a given market, your organization may be put on Groupon’s waiting list.  So while it may be a good idea to get on the waiting list now, what other options do you have?  Well according to daily-discount deal aggregator Yipit, there are at least 400 Groupon competitors to choose from.  Clearly there is no shortage of market participants in which to choose from.

The question is how do you choose?  For my money, I say take a look at Google Offers, Amazon’s partner LivingSocial, and Facebook Deals.  Each of these Groupon competitors has much to offer, but I find Google Offers and Facebook Deals to be ones to keep an eye on.  The reason is rather simple: eyeballs.  Google and Facebook in particular have services that already bring many eyeballs to potentially see your organization’s offer.  In addition, they already provide services that many organizations already use.  For example, Google Offers integrates with its existing advertising platform, in general, and with Google Places, in particular.  Not to mention the mobile component enabled by its Android operating system.

So as the general media headlines in the near future may revolve around Groupon’s pending IPO, be sure to not get overwhelmed by the hype and do your due diligence.  Yipit’s blog is a good place to start.