The current housewares industry’s fascination with social media can be viewed as a blessing or as a curse depending on your vantage point.

While social media certainly offers new and exciting opportunities to speak directly with target housewares audiences blindly jumping into social media without a strategic plan can rapidly result in wasted staff time and financial resources both of which are likely already limited.

Before undertaking a full-fledged social media campaign….

Take a step back:
While it’s impressive to say you’re among the first to arrive in the social media space (especially when speaking to to those that have issued the “you need to be there!” edict) – it’s far less impressive to be there frankly for the sake of being there. Resist the urge to respond to the ‘everyone is doing it’ pressure you may be experiencing right now and identify solid goals you hope to achieve in the space. Is your target audience B2B B2C or both?  Is distribution growth a more immediate directive for your organization or is increasing consumer awareness of your products the key goal? Do you hope to reach a specific target demographic that has continued to elude you? Be sure to identify your company’s specific goals first.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew:
Having now identified what is likely a very lengthy list of admirable goals – humbly prioritize them. Very few housewares manufacturers today lay claim to limitless staff resources and time. Launching an effective media social presence requires ongoing engagement monitoring and community building. Attempting to save the world with too few resources can only end badly – resulting in overworked staff and a less than effective engagement on the social media front. Ask yourself how much you can reasonably manage with the resources you already have and if you can honestly say your immediate priorities outnumber your resources – either scale back your goals or enlist the help of an outside PR/marketing agency that specializes in social media.

Match the message to the medium:
Take the time to correctly identify where your target demographic lives in the social media universe. Will your efforts to connect with new retailers be successful through Twitter?  Can you effectively reach the housewares enthusiasts of ‘Generation Y’ through Facebook? Take a peek at housewares manufacturer Fagor America and their early social media efforts for an example of focused strategy and messaging.

Recognize that all platforms are not created equal:
It’s unfair (and frankly unrealistic) to expect that every social media platform will work for every company. Begin with outlets best suited toward your goals. Twitter can be especially useful for spreading the word about your upcoming events while YouTube can take the pain out of product education and awareness building for consumers – and make it fun. Explore what messages currently exist in the space and check out the traffic of those messages and videos to see what’s working. A good example is housewares manufacturer LeCreuset’s social media presence designed to create contest-based buzz.

Be willing to admit something isn’t working:
Did your initial foray into social media yield a dismal response? Any response? Not unlike traditional marketing communication tactics – the best due diligence in the world will not guarantee results.  Ongoing trial and error is fundamental to successful social media campaigns and objective ongoing evaluation is key. Thankfully gauging results needn’t break an already tight social media budget. There are literally hundreds of free analytic tools available online for marketers’ immediate download that serve every social media platform. From Adonomics for Facebook and MetaCafe for web video to TweetBeep for Twitter and Omgili Charts for overall buzz-tracking social media initiatives that aren’t providing results can be quickly and cost-effectively identified.

Are you a housewares manufacturer with a success story to share? Post your comments here – we’d love to hear what’s working for you.