Are you struggling to grasp the value of social media for your business? Has this forced you to push off any real social media efforts? If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to either of these questions, then you’re most certainly not alone.
In this article, we are going to help you answer the question of whether or not your business actually needs a social media strategy by making viable business cases for it. Only then should you be able to decide whether or not social media is right for your business.
Let’s make sure we are on the same page here before continuing…
Effective social media strategies, to us, are about using other websites and applications to promote original, quality content with the goals of (1) increasing reach, (2) creating engagement and (3) improving communication between businesses and consumers.
Not sure how to actually use social media? Here are some tips to get you started:
Social media is NOT about regurgitating someone else’s point of view, talking at people, replicating experiences that should be happening on a company’s website or originating content that should be published on a company’s blog.
The most effective social media strategies are ones that are targeted to each audience and are made up of higher percentages of listening and engagement than preaching and proselytizing.
With that said, social media marketing is not for every business. Before you make that conclusion for your business though it is important to know why or why not.
If you’re a business owner or marketing executive, then tell us if this is sounds familiar:
Many companies have procrastinated when it comes to initiating a real social media strategy. Some of the reasons for this have been lack of knowledge of social media, privacy concerns, cost, time and just plain old fear of the unknown.
There’s absolutely nothing unnatural about this either. A lot of these barriers have originated from the constant bombardment of sales pitches by social media “experts” and the misinformation provided in most cases.
Businesses, like yours, will continue to hold off on social media strategies until the people explaining and selling it to them start doing so correctly.
As Brian Solis, a principal at Altimeter Group, explains in this accurate lesson of how to sell social media, the way to get companies to pull the trigger on social media is to make a business case for it and stop ‘selling’ it.
We couldn’t agree with Brian more. For us to spend time and money on social media there needs to be a strong business case for those efforts. The same should go for your business and we’re going to help you understand where to start with this.
Social media should be something that helps to grow your business, not suck the time, money and life out of it. When you start to think of social media in this way, as opposed to something that will cost you more money, distract your business or leave your company open for scrutiny, only then will you see the real value and get actual results from it.
So, how do you tell if social media is actually right for your business?
Here are some qualifications to help you find your answer.
These 6 qualifiers should help you make the right decision for your business. At the end of the day, any marketing campaigns should contribute to your bottom line and improve your relationship with your customers. If you are unable to find a viable business case for your company’s use of social media, then focus your efforts elsewhere.
Stop fearing social media and start thinking about it differently.
When you do this will you truly understand social media enough to decide whether its right for your business. And, if and when you do find it to be a fit, you will be able to appreciate it more and get the best results out of it.
If you need help discovering a business case for your company, or just need some direction with your current social media strategy, then we would love to help. Take advantage of our social media experience today to start getting results tomorrow!
Do you need help determining whether or not social media is right for your business?
One Comment
David English
September 30, 2014
As we are now in the age of social media, most of the business really needs this kind of strategy, but first you need to understand and determine some factors regarding this kind of technique. Your article really explain how Social Media can affect and deliver to your business. Good job!