Mike Lewis - Stand Out Social Marketing: How to Rise Above the Noise, Differentiate Your Brand, and Build an Outstanding Online Presence

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ISBN: 978-0-07-179497-8
MHID: 0-07-179497-2

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In loving memory of Uncle Frank and Aunt Mary
I wish you were both here to celebrate this accomplishment with me.

To the love of my life and my best friend, Sheila
Thanks for your unending and overwhelming love and support, without which I would never have been able to complete this book.

To my little buddy, Frankie, and my baby doll, Vienna.
You will always be my greatest achievements.

Part 1: Understanding Stand Out

Part 2: Stand Out in Practice

Part 3: Summarizing Stand Out

With so many companies diving into social marketing, separating the noise from the chaff will be a challenge; as a result, differentiation on social channels is critical for brand success. Savvy marketers know that they must create a new playbook beyond traditional tactics, starting with a deeper look at the core brand presence. In fact, your approach will have to take root in how you manage the internal operations of your social media strategy. Your approach to social media and the behind-the-scenes strategy is the key to differentiation and your brands success on the social web.

Most outsiders quickly dismiss successful social media programs as being easybut like an iceberg, what people perceive online is just the tip of it: the true weight of the effort stems from a company getting prepared the right roles, policies, processes, and more. At the time this book was written most companies have yet to reach social business maturitythe average corporate social business program is only three years oldyet some companies are already defining best practices. But whats generating all the noise? More specifically, what are the obstacles to turning out a mature and focused social media strategy?

A recent report published by my firm, the Altimeter Group, titled A strategy for Managing Social Media Proliferation, uncovered some of the challenges that make social media so difficult for brands to differentiate and manage. First, consider that, on average, 70 percent of enterprises said that social media efforts meet business objectives. Yet an average of just 43 percent said they had a formalized strategy roadmap that addresses how social media will meet specific business goals. With a lack of clear strategy and objectives the ability to differentiate your presence becomes far more difficult.

Second, Altimeter found that on average companies have a whopping 178 discrete social media accounts in their global corporation, not including employee accounts. Further, most companies do not even have accurate inventory of their existing assets. The deluge of accounts and confusion will only be exacerbated as more business units adopt social mediaespecially within distributed organizations. This gigantic management obstacle makes it impossible for social media strategists to gain a holistic view of the corporate strategy, again hindering the ability to differentiate your social presence.

Stand Out Social Marketing succeeds in focusing on the strategies and tactics to help brands differentiate and rise above the noise on the social web. Mikes unique ability is in presenting complex topics within an easily digestible framework, enabling marketers to implement these strategies in their company. As a seasoned social marketer, Mike also provides detailed case studies that will help marketers understand how top brands, along with some unknown but creative companies, are implementing these strategies in their business.

Most uniquely, the book provides actionable recommendations made for each user, individually based, on a maturity score assigned at the outset. It allows less-savvy users to truly understand how they can improve and learn from those who achieve a higher maturity score. In this way, Mikes book is an important tool for each and every one of us.

With so many jumping onto social media, it is the right time for this book: you must stand out. As Mike correctly points out, competition on social media is not only with your direct competitors, but with every other brand vying for the attention of the audience. Applying a Stand Out approach will help differentiate your brand and set you apart from the pack.