Social media strategies require total commitment, say experts

Successful social media campaigns require in-depth knowledge of the target audience

Experts speaking at the Social Networking World Forum in London today warned delegates not to underestimate the cost, resources and time it takes to run a social media strategy.

Now in its second year, the event attracted many more visitors than last year, reflecting the growing interest in social media.

In 2009, there were only a few hundred attendees and the exhibitors were small social media startups and mobile dating services. This year, the exhibition hall was double the size and brimming with social media consultants.

The discussion has moved on as well, from the need for businesses to embrace a social networking strategy to how firms should best manage that strategy.

Mars senior brand manager Muhammad Karim said it is essential for businesses to be aware of the costs of long-term social strategies. For it to work, firms need to realise that implementing a social networking strategy is not as simple as launching a few pages on different social networks.

Karim said that while businesses should be aware of what they want to achieve with a social networking strategy, they should consider hiring an outside agency to monitor conversations relating to their brand.

“A Facebook could suddenly collect 2,000 friends. Monitoring all the comments can take a lot of work but you have to staff it. You can’t just dabble," he said.