subject: Five Clues for the Mystery That is Brand Consultancy [print this page] Five Clues for the Mystery That is Brand Consultancy
Social media discussions include the often intimidating subjects of targeting intelligence and brand consultancy. The usual baseline questions are the "What is it?" and "How do you do it?" and these can often be difficult to analyze.
Time is perhaps the most important factor in the equation. It takes time to gather the data, interpret the data and be proficient at both of these tasks. The time committment is the main constraint in the social media discussion.
Five tips for navigating the potential minefield that is social media and targeting intelligence:
Pre-intelligence gathering. We need to put some time (there's that word again!) and effort into thinking through what we are going to do, how we are going to do it and why we are going to do it. Having a goal in sight for the end of the day (or specific project) is also a key factor in the success or failure of our social media/targeting intelligence mission.
Know the competition. It is no longer enough to "know thyself". Companies must not only know themselves but also know the competition. This has always been true to some extents but perhaps never more so than now. The information has just never been as easy to access as it is now. Knowing what you are doing in relation to what the competition is doing is a key factor in determining the success or failure of your endeavors.
Know thyself. Know what you (as in your business/company) has for personal resources. Who do you have? How can you use what you have (ie., "get the most bang for your buck")? How can you help get others on board with your message?
Return-on-Investment. Guessing is a lot more of the equation than you would ever expect. Until you research and figure out where the holes inyour system are, you cannot change it to fix it.
Answer the "why" question. Spending money---and especially someone else's money---should never be entered into lightly. Know the "why?" behind the investment (of both time and money) into targeting intelligence, brand consultancy and social media as a whole. This is a pivotal question worthy of the time and effort to answer before moving forward in the discussion.
Hopefully these five tips will hit the highpoints of the social media/targeting intelligence conversation and be a help as you begin to jump into the discussion.
