The Five Ws

February 24, 2012

This week I listened to Gretchen VanEsselstyn speak as part of a media bistro seminar. She discussed 'The 5 Ws of Social Media Strategy', which I am sharing here. These five Ws are Who, What, Where, When, and hoW. I challenge you to answer the following questions for your department.

Who 

Who is your audience? Who are your human resources (yourself, an intern, full time staff)? Who is the competition? (or peer?)

What 

What is my objective? (See my post on goals) What am I selling or promoting? What does my audience want? What can I give them?

Where

Where will I implement my strategy? What tactics will I use? Which platforms, tools, and technologies are best for me?

When

When is your audience listening? When can you start your social media efforts? What are your short- and long-term plans?

How

How will you know it is working? How will you measure success? How will you adapt your plans going forward?