How much is that pair of shoes in the window?

I've had money on my mind a lot lately. Finances are getting tighter for a lot of people, and I find myself trying to find ways to make my dollar stretch and ways to cut expenses. Do I really need some of the things I have in my life? Do I really need the cute heels beckoning me from the department store window? (*gasp!*)

It calls to mind an argument I've been making at work about our social media programs. In the world of social media, the biggest dollar doesn't necessarily deliver the biggest result. A term I've coined here at the office that illustrates my vision of how we should proceed is to "get scrappy." When it comes to social media, we can very much be scrappy and achieve results-_arguably better results than we would have with a larger dollar invested. And that has to do with looking at what makes social media social. It's not how many bells and whistles we can have on our sites. It's not how much content we create. It's in how much we allow the social aspect of consumer-generated content to thrive.

What is social media, if not social? It's not about creating a cool website. It's about creating a cool platform. A playground, if you will. When developing a social media strategy, I keep an eye to how can we take advantage of these tools in various ways. What's out there already? What do people already naturally gravitate to and use? Why reinvent the wheel? Stay scrappy.

Social media crosses departmental lines. So what? If I can aggregate content over several different delivery vehicles, connect people in new ways and let people create content, I get more bang for my buck. And with one simple social media PR plan I can cover everything from generating user involvement and content generation to traffic drivers and return trips. PR, marketing, customer service... The Voice of the Customer. It's social. It's scrappy.   

And, when I have to deliver a clear ROI, it's a heck of a lot easier if I stay scrappy. Start small. A marketing plan on a PR budget.

Oh, and in case you were wondering... yes, I walked away from the shoes in the window. I already have a pair that fits the bill.