We’ve all heard about Social Media...Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, You Tube, Pinterest, Google+, and more. Many marketers and business professionals
have all but forgotten other forms of marketing. The questions that loom over Social Media are,
“Is it worth the effort?” and “Does it really work?”
The answer is yes it’s worth the
effort, but in reality it doesn’t work for everyone. Don’t get me wrong, Social Media is
terrific. As someone who works with it
every day and helps clients’ achieve success with it, I’m a true believer. Each day it becomes more intertwined in the
fabric of marketing, but the real problem is most businesses don’t implement it
effectively. Consequently, it doesn’t
work.
Here are the primary mistakes businesses
are making with Social Media:
No Plan: Marketing always works best when a plan is
formed based on your target market, costs, and proper marketing/advertising
vehicles. Social Media, and the correct
way to use it, is more complicated than you might think. At the very least, think through what you
want to accomplish, why you are using social media, who you are targeting and
how it fits in with your other marketing endeavors. Without this you are apt to be wasting time
and money.
Believing it’s easy: Misjudging the difficulty of properly implementing a sound Social Media
strategy is a mistake also. Do you have
someone knowledgeable in Social Media handling your accounts? If not, rethink whether this is really a
priority for your business.
Setting up a page and thinking “They will come”: Many people believe the hard part
with Social Media is the initial set up of their page, profile or account. It’s just the beginning. Involvement and building relationships is
crucial to making it work and that takes time and effort. Followers won’t come if they never hear from
you.
Involvement with the wrong site(s):
There are many
social sites that can benefit your business.
Determining which sites are best for you to expend your energy and hard
earned dollars on is essential to Social Media success. Not every business should be on Facebook, no
matter how many millions of people are on it (and there are a whopping 901
million now). Knowing your target market
and understanding all the social sites is vital to what your return on
investment will be from Social Media.
Spending all your efforts on the wrong site or sites will gain
nothing. Eventually you will say it
doesn’t work and stop using it.
Selling: Social
Media is all about selling your product or service, right? Not at all.
Social Media is about making connections and creating lasting
relationships. Selling is part of what
you can achieve from Social Media, but it comes from developing and nurturing
these relationships over time.
Imagine if you made a dinner date
with someone and then asked them to marry you on that first date. Chances are your date would say “Whoa, you’re
moving too fast. We need to get to know
each other first.” Social Media is
similar to this situation, without the dinner.
Take your time getting to know those that follow you and allow them to get
to know you.
Posting updates too often or not enough: If it sounds difficult to figure out how often you
should be involved on your social sites each day, you’re right. There’s a fine line between being active in
Social Media and being annoying. You
have to determine what that ‘just right’ amount is for you and your followers.
Several years ago when I first got
involved with Twitter, I followed a local company in the Heating and Air
Conditioning industry. They tweeted around
50 times a day to call them for air conditioning service. It got so annoying I stopped following their
tweets. Did I ever call them for this
service? No.
Lacking Patience: Social Media isn’t for the ‘in-a-hurry’ crowd. It takes time to develop relationships and
reap the vast rewards Social Media can provide your business. Be patient and nurturing.
Thinking Social Media is free: No, you don’t have to pay for basic accounts on most social
sites, but you do have to pay someone (whether it’s internal or external) to do
the work. Include this in your plan.
Connecting, involvement,
relationships and patience are the keys to Social Media success. With these four elements in your Social Media
strategy, you will be one of the businesses reaping the benefits of Social
Media and you’ll know it really does work.
This article first appeared in the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber June 2012 Flight Line Magazine.
"Not every business should be on Facebook, no matter how many millions of people are on it"
ReplyDeleteWow, it's so refreshing to see someone else shares this opinion! Seems like everyone else thinks that every business should be on Facebook no matter what. Meanwhile tons of businesses continue dumping tons of money into managing a Facebook page that brings them no ROI at all... it's baffling. And sad, really.
Fred | O'Malley Hansen Communications
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