Shannon's thoughts on marketing, public relations, social technology, entrepreneurship and other things

Shannon Mouton
Shannon Mouton

the principal at Topaz Consulting, is a relationship marketing professional, with a passion for utilizing social technology for building B2B/B2C relationships, sharing information, networking and advancing the greater good. She has over 20 years of public relations, marketing and community building experience. Her combination of political, nonprofit, higher ed and corporate experience has afforded her opportunities to build communities where none existed, develop and launch innovative programming and bridge generational, economic and racial divides.

Shannon serves on the board of directors for the In Series, a Washington, DC performing arts organization. She is a regular contributor to Women Grow Business and Discover Exceptionalism, and her blog, Shannon Sez So, examines life's joys, pains and idiosyncrasies. Shannon is the founder of Topaz Consulting, a DC based marketing consultancy with a nationwide portfolio of clients. She graduated from Mount Vernon College (now part of The George Washington University) and is a proud native Washingtonian.

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Look BEFORE you leap into Social Media

Have you listened to your customers lately?

A lot of businesses are looking for the silver bullet, the next thing to take their products to the top, and A LOT of them are looking to social media for the answer.

Social media is no different than any other marketing channel, you get out of it what you put into it. It requires businesses and organizations to use their most valuable resources: time, people and money (free, isn't ever really free). They are all required to make your marketing efforts successful.

Nugget of knowledge: part time, ad hoc, one-off effort in social media will net your enterprise part time, ad hoc, one-off results

As with any new initiative, research and planning are pivotal for resource allocation and implementation. Before you jump head-first into the deep-end of the social media pool, consider a few things:

Is your target audience in the social media space? They may be there in droves, they may be an emerging demographic or there may be a few of them testing the social media waters to learn what all of the hype is about.

Nugget of knowledge: go to where your audience is

 Have you listened to your customers lately? Before you send one tweet, put up one wall message or write one blog post, find out what your target audience is saying about you, your products/services and your competitors.
Nugget of knowledge: take a listening tour of the social media space
What do your customers want to know? Give your customers what they are asking for, not what you want them to have. How many times have you received *that* gift and the giver says, "I wanted you to have it"? That is sweet, but you don't want it.

Nugget of knowledge: provide your customers a solution to THEIR problems
Is everyone enjoying the experience? Social media should be fun, it's a way to meet new people, learn new things, expand your horizons and share in the collective wisdom of the community.
Nugget of knowledge: it's not brain surgery, be creative, try some new things....GO FOR IT!
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