Why Do I Need Social Media?
OK I am on my Soapbox….and I am scratching my
head!
Over the past few weeks I have heard from more than one
business person who felt that Social media is just a fad and
they are not going to waste their time using it in their
business.
HELLO………..are you living under a rock? Do you not SEE the FB
symbol on every commercial on TV and print ad. It is here
and if you want to keep up, stay engaged and grow your
business…then you need a Social Media Strategy.
Still don’t believe me…..Watch this! Then ask yourself
again…Why do I need to use Social Media in business?
The first venture into social media for many companies,
whether a small start up or a big brand, is to create a
Facebook page to 'experiment' with social media, which is
seen as an add on to other marketing activities.
But just putting a page up onto Facebook, with no coherent
social media strategy, is unlikely to do anything for a
brand.
For many companies, their very first venture into social
media is the decision to create a Facebook page; uploading
the company logo, posting photos of the office, and writing
status updates from time to time.
This is true of a massive number of companies, ranging from
small entrepreneurial start-ups, to big corporate
businesses.
The paradox is that most of these same companies would not
undertake offline marketing activities on a whim, but
carefully plan their campaigns to the smallest detail. They
are scrupulous about targeting their direct response
campaigns, and every word of a print advertisement is
carefully chosen.
When using pay per click, they use all the tools available
in order to get their adverts in front of the specific
audiences they want to reach. But social media is viewed as
an add on, something to be done “if we have time…”
Creating and managing a page in this ad-hoc way, in the hope
of becoming a hit on Facebook, is likely to be as effective
as being in a stadium at a world cup match, trying to shout
about your products over the roar of the crowd and the
deafening drone of vuvuzelas. Nobody wants to listen, and if
they did, they wouldn’t be able to hear you anyway.
Social media can, and should, involve identifying your
target audiences and the platforms they already use. If you
are a B2B company, LinkedIn and Twitter are likely to be
much more useful than Facebook. If your business is B2B and
your target market is Poland, then using Goldenline (the
Polish equivalent of LinkedIn) would give you access to the
specific audience you want to reach. Demographic information
is available for most of the major social networks, so there
really is no reason not to target your social media
activities.
And when I say social media activities, I mean a structured,
organised set of activities, which bring your social media
strategy to life. It’s not about being on Facebook, or
having a Twitter account, or creating a YouTube channel.
Social media isn’t a set of platforms; it’s an attitude
towards engaging with prospects and customers in an open,
honest way, and it has to be properly co-ordinated in order
to avoid the social media disasters which have become so
ubiquitous in the press recently.
Another reason why you need a coherent social media strategy
is because becoming a “hit” on social media, or “going
viral”, is a one in a million chance. Social media isn’t
supposed to be a lottery, and I don’t think any company
would want their marketing activities to be based on luck
alone. In addition, the nature of some companies and their
products means that their audience is niche, and they are
never going to have 10,000 followers on Twitter.
It is more realistic, and likely to provide more predictable
results if you plan how to grow your online following
steadily by engaging with the right people, on the right
platforms, with well-considered content which adds value to
your audience.
Lastly, your social media strategy must detail your
marketing aims and objectives. The old adage of “what gets
measured gets managed” comes into play here. Besides, if you
don’t have a social media strategy, how will you know when
you’ve achieved your objectives?
To conclude; yes, Facebook does have over 400m members, and
yes, there are charismatic businesses out there that have
millions of followers interacting with them. But Facebook is
not the world, and being “where everyone else is”, is not
necessarily the most suitable place to find and talk to your
audience persuasively.
Let your strategy guide your choice of platform, and not
vice-versa, in order to get the most out of your time and
effort. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube
are household names, and lacking a presence on these social
media giants is no longer an option. Social Focus provides
comprehensive account set-up and design customization
options, including a broad range of marketing campaign
services that will help you manage and grow your networks on
these communities. Please contact us for our social media
design & social media management rates. Keep your finger on
the pulse of social media marketing and keep your brand
consistent with the help of our expert design and marketing
team.
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