Strategy. Strategy. Strategy....

  In late April, I had a great opportunity to speak to members of a local Chamber on Social Media in Government Contracting.  I found that based on my experience and research, government contractors are slow adopters of social media, unknown or any untested ideas for that matter. Now, for those active in social media, you might be wondering why? Like most companies and even individuals who have not yet adopted Facebook, Twitter, Quora, etc., most government contractors do not know where to begin. How to measure what they are doing and who is going to do this? Oh, and do not forget the security concerns. My recommendation before employing any new marketing and communication strategy is decide what your company wants to accomplish. If you are a government contractor, do you want to be seen as experts in security? Or are you trying to keep a handle on what your competitors are saying or doing? If you do not have an objective(s), it will be very difficult to determine whether all these new efforts are adding value to your company, the bottom line and providing you any return of investment. Even though this notion seems like common sense, it would surprise you how very few companies have a social media strategy. According to Market Connections, Inc. in the 2010 Government Contractor Social Media Survey out of the 167 government contractors 59 percent employ social media and out that group only 36 percent actually have a social media strategy. Most companies are Twittering, posting on Facebook and updating LinkedIn statuses ad hoc.  These numbers should concern you. This should concern you because you wouldn’t buy a house without any research on the structural integrity of the house, the neighborhood or not knowing the price?...