Björn Rohles rohles.net

Social for companies Social media marketing with a concept

Last update: Reading time: 3 minutes Tags: Facebook, IHK Trier, SMM, Social Media, Social Networks, Thomas Stiren, Xing

Last Tuesday, Thomas Stiren gave a presentation about “Social networks and the opportunities for companies” at the Trier Chamber of Commerce. The rdts managing director gave many valuable tips for the conception of successful social media campaigns, which I would like to pass on to you here – however, the entrepreneur remained unclear about his sources and terminology.

Light…: the system behind successful social media marketing

I do not want to say much about the first part of the lecture – the user interfaces of Xing and Facebook were explained in a lot of detail. Fortunately, Thomas Stiren got back on track in the second part of the lecture and integrated some good ideas and concepts. A successful campaign in the social networks should therefore follow the following four-step structure:

  1. Analysis: Thomas Stiren’s emphasis on the analysis phase, which forms the basis for the concept, was an important piece of advice. The rdts managing director merely touched on the individual components of the analysis phase: the networking culture in the company should be taken into account and the competition should be monitored using social media monitoring. Finally, it should be analyzed which product groups and audiences are suitable for the use of social media.
  2. Design: This second phase was the focus of the presentation – which makes sense considering that social media marketing cannot work without a thorough design. The topic is well illustrated on the slides – just take a look at them if you want to learn more about what should be considered when designing social media marketing.
  3. Implementation: Thomas Stiren had a number of good tips for the third phase, implementation. For example, you should create an editorial plan with topics for about a year – so you always know what you could write about. On the subject of criticism management, he referred to this much-noted graphic by René Ruebner. The rule of thumb of posting at fixed times every two days is also practical.
  4. Control: The optimization cycle begins with the completion of the campaign: continuous monitoring and improvement. Unfortunately, Thomas Stiren did not point out possible tools for this. On the other hand, I found his list of possible key figures for success useful – in addition to reach, the interaction rate and the mood of the reactions could be evaluated. I would even add to this list, since social media can be used for much more than just marketing. However, this is only a side note and not a criticism of the lecture, because Thomas Stiren clearly pointed out that this is about marketing. However, his presentation deserves criticism in other areas.

… and shadows: sources in the dark, terms in the gray area

In some places, I missed a critical examination of the topic: for example, the digital natives were mentioned several times, an generation supposed to be masters of networking from birth. I have already mentioned in my short report on our own panel discussion on the topic that I am not really convinced by this term. I find Peter Kruse’s distinction between “digital immigrants” and “digital residents” more convincing – Thomas Stiren himself pointed out several times that he was extremely well connected as a non-“digital native”.

I also found the missing sources for the interesting figures difficult – so they are of little use to me because I cannot verify them. The reference that the first social networks were founded in 1996 was also left without a source – a milestone that I would place earlier with WELL. This does not necessarily mean that the statement is wrong – as so often, a lot depends on one’s own definition of a social network: Dana Boyd and Nicole Ellison describe SixDegrees from 1997 as the first social network. However, Thomas Stiren would have done well to specify which definition he was referring to.

Conclusion: Good basics with room for improvement

IHK pen is on the event questionnaire.
The IHK likes its feedback in the traditional way – but at a social media event, you should also read it online.

Honestly, at the beginning of the event I felt a bit out of place – was someone really explaining the user interfaces of Facebook and Xing to me? The IHK could have avoided people coming to the lectures with the wrong expectations or the target group being too different by clearly naming the target group, for example with “for beginners”. Fortunately, Thomas Stiren was convincing in the second part of the presentation. Numerous practical tips and a systematic structure were on the credit side here – you could tell that the expert knows what he is talking about. He should also back this up theoretically with clearly stated definitions and unambiguous source references.