strategy

Hiring Needs to be a Strategic Exercise

By Mark Evans in Startups No Comments Tags: , ,

A couple of weeks ago, David Crow had a post in StartupNorth about the importance and challenging that startups face when it comes to hiring.

The post came to mind during a conversation with a startup entrepreneur looking to aggressively hire. A key point was how hiring has to be seen as a strategic rather than administrative process. It makes sense given how a bad hire can penalize a lean and mean startup that needs to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible.

As much as startups recognize the importance of making good hiring decisions, the reality is the process can be time-consuming and, frankly, it’s grunt work.

Many startups look to short-circuit things by hiring friends, or asking friends and employees for referrals. The next stop is job boards or Craigslist. If that doesn’t work, they may tap a headhunter, which is the most expensive option.

An element that goes missing in these situations is looking at hiring as a strategic process. Each person that a startup bring into the fold is important  - be it a developer, designer, marketer, salesperson, account manager, customer service rep or admin.

It means that startups need to have a structured approach to hiring as opposed to doing things ad hoc. It may require them to be patient and conduct multiple interviews before making a decision. It may mean avoiding the temptation to take the easy route by hiring friends.

Taking hiring seriously and strategically is a big challenge given the hiring marketplace is red-hot. Many startups find themselves scrambling for talent to support growth, even if it means hiring someone who might not be ideal. It’s a situation in which startups can make mistakes because there is pressure to make a hire.

The question that needs to be asked is not hiring someone worse than a mediocre or bad hire? It may mean the founder still needs to be the lead salesperson and/or the head of marketing, or that the lead developer still handles customer service. The other side of the coin is by not making a bad hire, a startup can avoid taking one step forward and two steps back.

From your experience, what are the key considerations for startups in the hiring process. How do they improve the chance of making the right decision?

More: NextMontreal has a post on how lean startups should make their first few hires.

 

The $400M Question: What’s Next for Twitter?

By Mark Evans in Social Media 1 Comment Tags: , ,

Here’s a riddle: what do you do with 100 million active users and $400-million of freshly-raised venture capital?

Answer: Pretty much anything you want, which can be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective.

That’s the situation facing Twitter, which has a “truck load” of money to do whatever it wants. With no need to do an IPO or be acquired, the world is Twitter’s oyster. It can make acquisitions, drive hard into different businesses such as advertising, analytics and data aggregation/distribution, or as GigaOm’s Mathew Ingram suggests, it could become a publisher. Flipboard, anyone?

Heck, Twitter could pull a Hewlett-Packard and completely reinvent itself by making a major acquisition. This is admittedly a far-fetched idea but given how crazy the high-world has been turning these days, you never know! I mean Michael Arrington is no longer working for TechCrunch, and Carol Bartz claims Yahoo “f@$ked me over”.


Data = Advertising Revenue?

So how does Twitter and CEO Dick Costolo move forward? The nice thing about having $400-million is it provides lots of financial latitude. The problem with having so much money is there’s a lot pressure to do something dramatic. Maybe even do something like create a business model!

The lowest hanging fruit for Twitter is clearly advertising given Twitter could crunch the vast amount of data it generates to deliver extremely targeted advertising. While Twitter has been slow off the mark to embrace advertising, my take is users will quickly accept it as part of the landscape even if Twitter decides to aggressively drive forward. There’s no reason why Twitter’s Promoted Tweets shouldn’t be as effective and lucrative as Google AdWords.

The thing is it is difficult to see how Twitter could spend $400-million to blow out its advertising business. So how does it spend all this money?

Acquisitions, Anyone?

Well, there are a bunch of acquisitions (e.g. TwitPic, UberMedia) could make but they could eat up $50-million to $75-million, unless Twitter decides to purchase an analytics company. Twitter could buy an advertising network to support the growth of Promoted Tweets. It could spend some more money on its infrastructure, which still isn’t rock-solid and will need to be expanded as more users are added. And there’s money to be spent internally on developing new features and applications.

Even so, it is hard to imagine how Twitter could spend $400-million but I’m sure there is some kind of plan, right? Then again, maybe there isn’t a plan other than taking $400-million when someone really wants to give it to you.

Right now, Twitter can pretty much do anything. The key will be moving forward decisively and aggressively to execute on the opportunity. While Twitter has received a huge boost of confidence from its investors, Twitter’s financial success is no slam-dunk given the challenges it has had creating a robust business model. So it important to remember having $400-million doesn’t fix your problems. It only puts the pressure on.

They say money can’t buy you happiness but Twitter is about to discover if it can buy success.

Creating a Better, Smarter Social Media Strategy

By Mark Evans in Social Media, Uncategorized 1 Comment Tags: ,

I’ve been doing social media strategy for the past two years but a recent project gave me some new and valuable perspective on how strategic plans should happen.

The biggest lesson is how tightly-integrated social media strategy needs to be with a company’s communications, sales and marketing activities. It seems like a straightforward/no-brainer approach but one of the dangers of creating social media strategy is treating it as a standalone activity as opposed to something that is baked into a company’s operations and corporate DNA.

StrategyMany social media strategic plans pay far more attention to tactics and how different services and tools can be operated on a daily basis. I think a this focus happens because tactics are difficult to implement compared with strategy. Tactics involve time, grunt work and a savviness about the tools and best practices. On the other hand, strategy is more subtle and complex because it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution in which you simply do A, B and C on a regular basis.

When I completed the recent social media strategic report, it came after spending a lot of time with the client and its employees – both senior executives and marketing and communications people. In the process, I learned a lot about the organization, how it operates, the culture, the politics and the approach to marketing and sales. Some of the questions I asked about social media prompted the company to take a look at its overall approach to marketing and sales. This made my assignment more complicated but it was a positive thing for the company.

With in-depth knowledge the company, its people and operations, my report featured not only strategic recommendations but valuable nuances and details that could only have happened by investing a lot of time with people. At the end of the day, the strategic report was more comprehensive, more valuable and, frankly, a better piece or work.

Here are some of the key lessons that I picked up:

1. Learn as much as you can about a client’s operations, culture and current approach to communications, sales and marketing. It can mean spending a good chunk of time in meetings but it’s a good investment, and the only way to really learn what the client needs.

2. Don’t be afraid to ask a company why they want to do social media and what they hope to get out of it. They sound like simple questions but the answers are often more interesting and revealing that you’d expect. You may discover that parts of the organization are keen about social media while other parts are less keen or reluctant to jump on the bandwagon. Learning more about both groups can generate great insight to create a plan that takes into account everyone’s needs and motivations.

3. Focus on strategy first; then look at tactics. The strategic goals and considerations have a major impact on tactics so knowing why a company wants to do social media, what they want to get out of it and how they are going to measure success will provide lots of directions for tactical implementation.

4. Be prepared to offer a short-term plan and a long-term roadmap. In many cases, companies will discover that social media is more complex and involves more resources (time and people) than they expected. Rather than scare them away by delivering a plan that involves a lot of work, it’s easier for them to digest a plan that involves different phases.

For more on how to create a social media strategy, check out Pam Moore’s recent post.

Social Media Needs to Embrace the Big Picture

By Mark Evans in Social Media 3 Comments Tags: , , ,

Gary Vaynerchuk is a savvy social media practitioner and a tremendous self-marketer but he does offer pearls of wisdom about how social media is being used or how it should be used.

Case in point is his assertion during an interview with TechCrunch that ”99.5 percent of the people that walk around and say they are a social media expert or guru are clowns”.

Now, “clowns” is a strong word (although it’s certainly good for capturing attention and headline writing) but I think Vaynerchuk is suggesting there is a problem with people who are focused on social media tools as opposed to how social media fits into the bigger scheme of things.

These are lots of “experts” or “gurus” well-versed in using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.. This is great if you want tactical help but many of these people have little knowledge or expertise about how social media needs to be aligned with a company’s marketing and sales goals and objectives.

Truth be told, social media is just another channel. It’s not the best thing since sliced bread, it’s not rocket science or a silver bullet. It’s a new and different way to reach target audiences with tools that allow engagement and conversations. At the same time, social media has to support and/or enhance the other things a company is doing, otherwise embracing social media is a waste of time.

Since I started my consulting business, I’ve taken a pragmatic approach to social media. While many clients are excited about social media and want to jump on the bandwagon, I’m more interested in discovering why they want to use social media and what they’re doing with their other marketing and sales activities, including their digital presence.

In many cases, a company doesn’t need to embrace social media but, instead, should focus on overhauling its Web site given it’s my belief social media doesn’t work if your “digital hub” fails to meet the needs and expectations of existing and potential customers.

Another pre-social media need could be messaging and branding. A lot of companies are terrible at clearly articulating who they are and why anyone should about their products and services. If a company does a bad job of messaging/telling its story, its social media efforts will be a lot like spinning your wheels on ice. Lots of activity but you’re not going anywhere.

I think too many social media “experts” are so focused on getting companies to use the tools, they have no sense about the bigger picture. It means companies jump into social media but don’t get the results they’re seeking because there is no strategic alignment.

Social media can be a powerful medium but without a clear idea of how it supports everything else a company does (and visa versa), it can’t succeed – no matter what a social media “expert” or “guru” would have you believe.

Why A Great Web Site is A Key to Social Media Success

By Mark Evans in Social Media 8 Comments Tags: , ,

In the two years I have been doing social media strategy, one of the most interesting themes has been the importance of having a top-notch Web site.

It’s not something many companies think about when they’re getting into social media. They are more focused on deciding whether a blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or LinkedIn make the most sense. Companies also spend a lot of time thinking about tactics and the need to create content.

But the importance of having a strong Web site to support a company’s social media efforts is frequently overlooked, if not ignored. This approach has increasingly struck me as wrong because social media and a corporate Web site are a powerful and complementary one-two punch.

Why?

At the end of the day, social media is, among other things, a way to drive in-bound traffic. Companies create and distribute content, including a healthy amount that highlights corporate activity. It could be press releases, information about products and services, investor information, videos or blogs.

If traffic is being driven to your Web site, it better meet expectations. It needs to do a good job of telling visitors what you do and why they should care. It should deliver well-articulated, clear and great stories. And it should encourage people who have been attracted by social media to do something – be it asking for more information, request a demo, buy a product or service, etc.

If your Web site isn’t up to the task, if it’s boring, difficult to navigate, or fails to quickly tell visitors why they are there, it doesn’t matter how good or engaging your social media efforts are because you have failed to follow through on expectations. It’s like having great advertising for a terrible product.

For clients, it means I’m an advocate that their Web sites are an asset that can support social media rather than cutting it off at the knees. In some cases, it may mean telling a company it should focus on refreshing its Web site before it embraces social media. Or it could mean a company should get into social media and upgrade its Web site at the same time.

Putting social media on pause so a company can improve its Web site can be a tough pill to swallow because an overhauled Web site isn’t as sexy as creating a Facebook Page or getting into Twitter. But it can be a necessary evil so when a company does jump into the social media fray, it does so from a position of strength.

The other thing about the need to have a high-quality Web site is the fact many companies ignored their Web sites during the economic boom. Why spend money on a Web site when business is booming. It’s the old if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it adage. Now, however, many Web sites are several years old, making them dated in terms of content, features and design.

So while social media is new and sexy, it shouldn’t distract companies from making sure their Web sites do their job so Facebook, Twitter, et al can do their jobs effectively as well.

2011: The Year of Social Media Reckoning

By Mark Evans in Social Media 5 Comments Tags: , ,

The rise of social media in the last couple of years has been fun and definitely interesting. Millions of people and companies have embraced the various services, even though many had no idea of how they would be used or why. But it didn’t matter because social media was so new that everyone wanted to experiment and dabble.

But like any wild party that comes to an end, people eventually have to sober up and take stock of what’s happened. And the same holds true for social media. After the enthusiasm and experimentation, there is a growing sense that many companies are looking at their social media efforts in a new and demanding way.

It’s not enough any more to be doing social media. The focus is shifting to the benefits of social media and what it’s generating for the business – be it Web site traffic, leads, sales or better customer service. It was not that long ago that being on social media was enough of a competitive difference. But this is no longer the case.

Now, companies want tangible evidence social media is contributing to overall operations. Like any corporate activity, social media must earn and keep its place. It is a matter of recognizing whatever resources and money being allocated to social media is not going something else. As a result, the ROI of social media is becoming a growing consideration to measure and justify how money and resources are being spent.

This is actually a positive development because it will make social media more than just a digital novelty that is being done because everyone else is doing it. Taking a more pragmatic approach to social media hopefully means companies will be more focused on making sure their strategic and tactical efforts are implemented properly.

In many respects, it means embracing what I describe as “social relevance”, which involves harnessing social media to make a business operate better or gain a competitive edge. It means focusing on a company’s strategic and tactical goals for social media, and then adding other elements such as the different services, influencer outreach, monitoring, and tactics on top of it. (See the graph below).

A more serious focus doesn’t mean social media will be less fun or exciting but it does suggest companies could be more discerning in how they use social media and the potential benefits before jumping into the fray. There will be plenty of opportunities for social media to evolve and resonate but the corporate landscape is changing….and that is a good thing.

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