Monstrous Social Media Advice
Friday
Jun 12, 2009
Cheezhead this week wrote about Monster.com’s recent announcement that they will (for a hefty fee) execute a social media strategy for their clients.
What’s noticeable about this announcement isn’t that large companies are becoming aware of the value of social media and are trying to cash in on the gold rush of consulting fees that uncertain and unfamiliar companies will fork over to play in the social media pool.
No, the shocking thing about this announcement is that Monster.com has absolutely no social media presence themselves. They don’t tweet. They have no Facebook page. And I can’t find a Monster blog. All of which suggests that perhaps they’re not the best source of social media advice.
What’s also disturbing is that they don’t promise any tangible ROI, just a number of impressions. That’s right, for a mere $12,000 they will set up a Facebook page and Twitter profile for your comapny and promise that a banner ad will appear on 2 million Facebook pages. Are you whipping out your checkbook yet?
Developing a social media strategy isn’t something that you can outsource to a third party. It should be part of your strategic marketing plan with specific objectives and an anticipated ROI. Company participants need to engage online in genuine conversations. Bloggers need to write about their real world issues. Problems. Successes. Difficult issues. Complex questions. With an authentic, human voice.
It’s not easy, it’s not cheap, it’s not quick and it’s not someone else’s responsibility.
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Comments
Kathy O'Reilly
June 15th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Ah, but Monster does have a social media presence. Monster is active in more social media channels than you might be aware, (and it appears we need to do a better job of promoting ourselves.) We tend to focus rather than taking a generic approach to social media – so our initial Facebook and Twitter presences aim to engage young professionals (MonsterTrak on Facebook and Twitter) and connect people with our national Keep America Working job fairs (MonsterKAW on Facebook and Twitter.) In fact MonsterTRAK has been on Facebook for nearly 2 years. And we’ve got additional SM initiatives in development. So stay tuned. Meanwhile, hope you’ll follow us on Twitter @MonsterKAW & @MonsterTRAK…we always follow back.
– Kathy O’Reilly
Monster.com
http://monster.typepad.com/monsterblog/
[Reply]
John Heaney Reply:
June 15th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Kathy:
I stand humbled and duly corrected. Monster does have a social media presence on Twitter and Facebook, though the company’s presence is devoted to two niche projects. Here’s my problem, which you acknowledge: as the single largest job hunting site on the web, I should not have to receive a blog comment to discover that Monster has a social media presence.
Before posting my blog entry I did a thorough search to determine if Monster were active in any social media channels. I found nothing. Social media, by its definition, is intended to attract and engage your prospects and customers. Links to your SM channels should be easy to find, not buried several pages into your site. And if you have a company blog, there should be a link to it from your home page, not hidden in your email signature. It simply looks like there is no SM strategy on Monster’s part, and the elements that are currently out there are virtual orphans. Just not what I would expect from such a leading, fully web enabled company.
[Reply]