Plan 2 Plan

For sure, we've all heard the adage, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

Unfortunately, if we "fail" to understand history, we're apt to repeat it. When Web sites, email, and other technologies hit over the last few decades, many companies jumped in without thinking through the business and communication strategy. The same is happening now with social media. "Wow, wouldn't it be cool to have a blog," can be heard through the halls of thousands of companies around the world. But of course, it makes perfect sense that having a blog would be part of a corporate strategy with an eye on goals, objectives, target audience, et al.

This is where Forrester comes in. Josh Bernoff from Forrester has created a business model for social. The visual is below. It's pretty straight forward and makes a lot of sense, again, sorry for the clichés today, but (KISS) Keep it Simple Stupid. The model, outlines a blueprint before jumping in head first into social. And, it's a prelude to his new book called Groundswell

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I have met with numerous C-level executives from high-tech companies to discuss their communications strategy, plan, and vision. It's often very interesting when I ask basic questions about the company and many of them have trouble answering them. Of course, that is part of the exercise of the strategic plan, and now, we have a starting point for social media strategic planning.