Business

You can browse through thousands of blogs, magazines and how-to books for tips on creating the perfect marketing plan. Figuring out how to formulate the right marketing strategy can be tedious, and ideally it will pay off in the end.  But the best form of marketing can be buzz marketing, and someone who has Foursquare’s “Mayor” badge in their possession may be all you need to generate it.

Foursquare defines their application as a cross between a friend-finder, a social-city guide and a game that rewards users for doing interesting things.  For businesses, Foursquare is a tool that lets you identify repeat customers as well as influencers that can bring in new customers.

In order to become a mayor on Foursquare, a user has to check-in at a certain location more than anyone else.  Once they are crowned as mayor, it appears on their Foursquare timeline (and Twitter timeline if activated) for all of their friends to see.

However, the mayor badge is transferable.  If the next user checks-in more than the previous user, then they will become mayor of your business.

Not only does someone holding the mayor badge increase awareness of your business, the badge also allows you to identify your brand enthusiasts.  Social media is about building relationships, and communicating with your mayor’s is a great way to start.

Offering mayors coupon specials, ticket giveaways or special promotions is a great way to show your appreciation to your loyal customers and will definitely spark new customer interest.

Although there have been some privacy concerns, Foursquare continues to be a growing social media phenomenon.

A Foursquare mayor can draw a captive audience.  What do you want these users to say about your business?

Here are a few examples of companies using Foursquare to their benefit:

Intel

BART

Harvard University

Brooklyn Museum

Every social media webinar, workshop or seminar you attend will talk about the benefits of having a company blog.  Blogging is supposed to increase your website traffic, boost profits and display your expertise.  But not every social media strategy needs to include a blog.

When it comes to blogging, you’re going to love it or hate it.

Creating fresh content is fun when your blog is in the beginner stage.  You have an excuse to keep up on the latest news and trends, as well as a platform to tell your thoughts and ideas to thousands of people who share similar interests. Plus, you’re noticing that blogging is fun.

Then reality bites.

You realize you now have a fair amount of faithful readers who are looking for you to provide them with compelling information almost daily.  They want something different from you that they haven’t seen thousands of people link to on Twitter.

For most people, this is when their enthusiasm for blogging dissipates.

Your social media marketing strategy is about your customers.  How do your customers get their information?  How do they share the information they receive? How do they communicate?

Before creating your blog, make sure your customers would be interested in reading it.  Pay close attention to how your people find your website.  You can learn a lot about what your audience prefers based on how they landed on your website.

Blogs can assist with your SEO strategy, but so can Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Digg, etc.

Contrary to what you may have heard, or read, a blog doesn’t make or break your social media strategy.  There are plenty of social media networks in which your customers participate.

There’s no point to stressing over blog content if a blog isn’t necessary.

If you Google “social media marketing plan” about 183 million results appear in 0.52 seconds.  Everything from a step-by-step guide to creating a social media marketing plan, to bloggers giving their best advice on using social media for business, is available for you to read.  There’s tons of resources you can use to put your social media marketing plan together, but does the perfect social media marketing plan exist?

Over the past few years, social media networks have changed.  Some features have been removed and new ones have been added, the layout and design may be different, and some networks have become obsolete.

For example, a few years ago, MySpace was the number one social network. When Facebook started gaining popularity, MySpace users migrated to the “new” network and MySpace social media marketing strategies soon became irrelevant.

Modeling your social media strategy after a highly successful social media campaign is not a good idea.  Your audience and your customers are unique to your business. A social media strategy that works for other companies may not work for yours.

Identifying the networks that will work for you and putting your social media strategy on paper is a step in the right direction. However, for your social media plan to be successful, it has to be just as dynamic as social media itself.

The best social media strategies are the ones that anticipate change.  The more fluid and less concrete your social media marketing plan is, the more successful your social media efforts will be.

The perfect social media marketing plan may never exist, as the social media landscape is constantly changing.  The only social media component that will remain constant is, in order for your strategy to work, a good amount of time is required.