Does Social Media Work for Business?
I recently published an article, “Facebook and Twitter are Stupid”, with the intent of drawing out people’s concerns regarding the use of social media as a serious tool in marketing. I recognized that the article would also draw the ire of social media addicts that would do anything to insure their next Twitter fix and to suck the next naive and willing spirit into their unholy social media haze of sensory deprivation where all problems, particularly marketing, can be remedied by just one more tweet or post.
Surprisingly, the majority of comments were from people who thought they were the last people on Earth to recognize that there was something seriously wrong with the social media craze. It was as if they were the last humans in “The Night of the Living Dead.”
As with all things, there is a happy median here. While some Facebook zombies will need to be shot in the head before they give up their blood lust for being liked and friended, most can be reanimated with some honest appraisal of:
What social media can do
How it should be used
What should be expected as a return on your social media investment
Social media is an important part of most startup and small business marketing strategies. Social media helps businesses connect with their target market and others that have an interest in the conversation they create the forum for.
Social media is a two-way street. It’s one of the few marketing tools that is or should not be controlled by the business and that is its power in establishing the connection with your online community.
What then, can social media do for you?
Allows you to create a following of interested friends
They get to participate in and become engaged in your business
You can target a very specific market
You will build your SEO and drive traffic to your website
In social media, bigger is not better. It’s the quality of your friends, fans and followers, not the quantity. The objective is to create a following that is:
Interested in your business, industry and market
Participates in the dialogue
Will get connected with you in a serious way
For most small businesses, this group might range in the 100s, not the 100s of thousands. Given this, what should your expectations of a social media investment be? A good social media strategy should yield a high return on investment. It is potentially your most accessible segment of your target market. What ruins the return for many is the cost of the investment and the lack of sustainability in the campaign.
For too many, social media while being free for the most part is a tremendous investment in very valuable time. Content needs to be relevant. Not all post should be educational or a sales pitch. Certainly not an endless series of inspirational quotes that has become so popular. Relevant is the key. A good mix of education, sales, community interest, contests, surveys etc. Accomplishing this is no easy task without a tremendous investment in time.
Remember, social media is not a marketing silver bullet. It is not the one final solution to all of your marketing challenges. It is another campaign that needs to be coordinated with the rest of your marketing tools. How do you then sustain a social media presence without sucking away precious resources?
Meadow Creek has a social media management solution that will provide:
Customized Fan Page and Welcome Page on Facebook
A social media strategy
A social media plan
Content libraries to draw post from that are relevant to your fans friends and followers
Links and populates Facebook with LinkedIn, Twitter and your blog
If you would like to learn more, contact Meadow Creek today and register for our next Social Media Workshop or schedule a time to learn about how we can help you implement an effective social media strategy.
Richard Gabel
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