I have a love-hate relationship with Social Media.
I love the ways it’s levelled the playing field for all businesses to have (almost equal) marketing opportunities. But I hate the way everyone now thinks (or feels) that if they don’t participate in it, they’ll be left behind.
In my post on breast-or bottle fed Social Media (SM) I spoke unpredictably. For a marketer that is.
No, I’m not living under a rock; I’m certainly not out of touch and I’m not ignoring the huge impact that SM can have on a business (note – the right business).
Marketing 101 says to match your activity to your target, purpose and goal.
So it’s not just me that says you shouldn’t participate in everything and anything unless it matches your plans, goals, answers your audience views and communicates with them in the manner they want.
Social Media has enormous advantages, but unfortunately it seems that (similarly to branding) some marketers have taken the concept and shifted the target to the extreme – so much that it’s now an obsessive disorder for some.
All that said, lets’ explore the question of “Should you participate” a little further.
To recap from my previous post:
Due to the media hype and accessibility of the medium, everyone seems to think that they have to participate. Do you really? Well, NO. It depends on three key things:
Your target audience . Your business goals . Your definition of success
Each of these things needs to be carefully reviewed and weighed before you jump into Social Media. Unless you are sure it’s worth your investment of time, effort and importantly belief then it’s not going to get you what you think it will.
So now let’s look at each in turn.
- Target Audience. Who are they, where do they hang out, what tribes do they belong to, what level of technology do they consume, what do they think, what do they feel, does your product/service solve their need or pain? Importantly will your audience be listening where you’re going to be? Do they actually use social media? If the answer is NO, then don’t do it.
- Business Goals. Will Social Media platform/s enhance or help achieve these? Unless the answer is a resounding ABSOLUTELY YES then steer clear, or at least tread carefully. Use you time more effectively and efficiently getting to know your audience (see above).
- Definition of Success. This varies widely from business to business. Here’s my broad swipe at defining it:
Being in –
- a. the right places
- b. to meet the people
- c. who are interested
- d. and able to purchase
- e. your products or services
Engaging in –
- a. conversations that meet your prospects’ needs
- b. and encourages them to become your customers
So what have we got at the end of all that?
If you carefully go through each of the above three points, then you’ll have a firm idea of whether Social Media will benefit your business.
And remember that you don’t need to participate in ‘all’ the forms of SM. Each has its own strengths and strategic advantages. You don’t need to spread yourself thinly, do everything poorly and consume a large amount of time – instead choose one or two platforms and do them really well.
As with all marketing, it’s not mysterious, it just takes time and thought to get the results you want.
Do you think it’s imperative to participate in Social Media? Tell us your thoughts, in the comments.
If you enjoyed this post, you can use this link to subscribe to the feed to be delivered direct to your inbox FREE
Photo via stock.xchng user hoelfi
Finally! A marketer with some common sense.
I love this entry. So many businesses are investing so much time and energy into social networking as the “next big thing” because thats what business owners and marketers have been reading. “Jump on board or get left behind” is the mantra. But so few business owners and marketers actually understand social media and most importantly what it can and cant do for your business. Where the majority of businesses have gone wrong is trying to use it as an advertising and customer aquisition platform – resulting in the overwhelming noise vs signal that we now have.
What has happened for many of these accounts is their owners have been lulled into a false sense of ‘success’ with the number of followers/subscribers they have generated, not realising that tha majority of those ‘followers’ are actually other businesses trying to market their own products! This has created a massive feedback loop of accounts following each other who have no interest in ‘listening’ to the other accounts, but believes that the other acccounts are ‘listening’ to them.
It is disconcerting at the least to think of all of the millions of hours staff and business owners around the world have invested into active social media accounts fruitlessly.
Where social media excels is COMMUNICATION. Social media for business is like the online doppleganger of exhibitions and trade events. It allows customers to connect, find out more infomation and provide feedback to companies who are willing to listen and this can be invaluable so long as the goal is to take advantage of it.
Adam Benson recently posted..Di’s Baby Spinach & Mushroom Salad with Curry Dressing