Presenter: Bert Dumars (@Bwdumars), Vice President E-Business & Interactive Marketing for Newell Rubbermaid

From the program:

Bert has worked with many departments through the Newell Rubbgermaid family to help transition social media from an online marketing tool into a company wide platform. Join him as he discusses the challenges and successes Newell Rubbermaid has experience through this process

Many companies jump into social media without fully considering

1. Fit with brand positioning and target consumer audience
2. Alignment and integration with business strategies and marketing plans.

Bert's is a systematic approach to integrate social media into the planning process.

Social media is big and pervasive. Twitter has surpassed 21 billion tweets, and a Google search for “Social Media Expert” yields 1.4 million results. But how does it fit into your business?

Bert began to answer this question by first defining the pitfalls of social media usage:

1. Alienating the consumer: The example for this was a Motrin case study where the company put out a traditional ad stating how the pain reliever cured moms' back pain caused by wearing their babies. The mothers involved in the social media community didn't like it, and said so on social media platforms. Motrin wasn't a part of the community.
2. Scaling without a community: Einstein Bagels set out to acquire more fans on Facebook by adding a promotion tab to their page for free bagels. They got more the 600,000 fans, but the community was made of spammers and those looking for free bagels. Takeaway: don't build a community based on Freebies.
3. Online Hype does not Equal Business Results: Just because Dell can do it doesn't mean you can. Their online presence is centered around customer service, and represents .001% of their revenue.
4. Lack of Integration: Ashton Kutcher bet he could beat CNN to 1 million Facebook followers. The problem with this is that CNN wants to be seen as a serious news station. Kutcher wins either way, because it's all hype.

So now that you know how to avoid the pitfalls, how do you do it the right way?

“You don't need a social media strategy. You need a brand strategy that leverages social media.” -Chris Kirubi

Bert says to start by defining what the brand stands for. Who's the target customer? What is the overall promise to the target consumer? Next determine the brand strategy, including promise, fulfillment and monetization.

Your business/brand strategy leads to an integrated marketing plan (which may or may not include social media). Pick and choose what's the biggest bang for you. Use brand positioning as a guide.

Bert goes on to give a step-by-step guide to strategy, using examples from Rubbermaid and Sharpie:

1. Define target market
2. Establish the brand's positioning
3. Determine an unmet need based on consumer insights.
4. Determine the critical parts of the purchase decision tree and how they translate into key consumer touchpoints.
5. Establish the marketing plan based on the prioritized consumer touchpoints (packaging, advertising, coupons, and social media).
6. Develop social media tactics that are aligned with the brand positioning and extend the marketing plan objectives and strategy.