3 Ways to Know If You Should Do Social Media or Not
As a small business owner, you are probably inundated with news about the latest, social media trends. There is facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and more.
Do you have this feeling that you should get involved with it but just aren’t sure? Well, here are…
3 Ways to Know Whether or Not You Should Get Into Social Media
1. Are your customers using it?
First and foremost, you have to think about your target market and your goals. You should not get involved with social media just to “jump on the bandwagon.”
Before starting a social media process, conduct some research and set goals. What will your customers gain? What do you want to accomplish? What kind of content will you provide? These are just some of the questions to answer prior to starting your social media process.
2. Do you have time to stay connected?
Social media is about interaction and communication. If you don’t have time to post valuable information every day, provide feedback and offer different information on your various, social media channels, your efforts can completely backfire and make your business look stale and out of touch.
To be successful in social media, it’s essential to be present, talk to customers and really communicate with them regularly. Social media can be a full-time job, so if you don’t have time to do it yourself the right way, hire someone who can.
And if you really want to be a part of social media but can’t afford to hire someone to handle it for you, start small. Perhaps, you can start with a facebook page and move up from there? It all depends on how much time you have to devote to your social media efforts to make it a positive experience for you and your customers.
3. Will you track results?
Once you start your social media process, it’s essential to track the results regularly. Otherwise, how are you going to know if your efforts are working or not?
You’ll want to see what content is most popular with your audience so you can provide valuable information, what links people are clicking on most, how different entries relate to sales, and more. The information you track will depend on your specific goals for your social media program.
Once you have this information, you can work on constantly improving your processes to meet customer needs and business milestones.
Ready to move forward?
Yes, social media offers a huge opportunity to reach new customers, increase brand awareness and beat the competition. But if you don’t have a social media plan, and the time to implement and track it the right way, you may waste a lot of time and money. Even worse, you may make a bad impression and end up dealing with a PR nightmare rather than good communications that lead to long-term customer relationships and sales growth.
Do you need help with the way you communicate with your target market via social media, PR and SEO copywriting efforts, please write to me below or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.
March 1st, 2012 at 8:46 am
Thanks for your message. I’m glad the information was helpful.
All the best with your social media efforts,
Melanie, rembrandtwrites.com
March 9th, 2012 at 10:37 am
Thanks for sharing such an amazing blog… I was wondering some stuff about Social Media and I found your blog really helpful for me.
March 9th, 2012 at 12:25 pm
Hi Stella,
Thanks for your nice note. Social media can be overwhelming so I’m glad you liked this blog entry.
Melanie, rembrandtwrites.com
March 9th, 2012 at 2:53 pm
You say social media offers a great chance to increase brand awareness and beat the competition, but you bring up another good point - about having a plan! We’re still on the fence about even using social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. Is hiring professionals the best way to create a great plan that will actually work? And if we were to use only one social media site, which would you recommend?
March 9th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Trademark Attorneys,
When developing your social media plan, look at what you want to accomplish and set goals. Each social media venue offers different benefits so you’ll need to pick the right one(s) for your specific goals.
You’ll also need to figure out who is going to be responsible for your social media efforts. It can be a full-time job to make posts, provide feedback and interact with people online - on a daily basis. If you and your team members have other, core responsibilities necessary to run your business, it’s wise to hire outside help. A social media expert can also help guide you in the right direction.
Thanks for your comments, and I hope this information is helpful.
Melanie, rembrandtwrites.com