Social Media, is it all its cracked up to be?
Writing this article poses a number of questions which maybe should be considered as well.
Is Social Media providing business traffic directly or indirectly?
Also, the other conundrum is where Social Media is the conduit to followers, likes and shares but the majority of these users never have an intention of engaging in business?
Dealing with the first it is a personal view but I would look for social media to take me to more detail such as the company website yet there are a few who like the short impact and engage straight away. Basically, it probably comes down to what you are selling, and the price break point as well as individual preferences. Answer in short is you need both to be successful in most cases.
The second point is a difficult but a necessary evil. The whole purpose of social media in our view is to extend the reach and would you prefer 100 followers that buy occasionally or the extended reach to 100 million that 1% buy but not necessarily again.
So back to the main question.
Firstly, as a business you need to be SMART. How much time have you got, which social media platform will align to your business best and what skills do you have to manage social media. Managing is an important concept to consider. If you are making a product 9 – 5 and your best audience is active during the day how do you properly engage, regularly? So, choose the right platform and either make time or employ someone to do it for you. Without this you might spend hours of activity, but nobody is listening, or more appropriately watching.
Second major consideration is content. Images and engaging comments will create followers. Not every communication needs to be a selling approach. Establish yourself as an expert by providing blogs on industry and best practices, or, comment on others on social media, or, personalise so people are buying in to you and not the product. One of the first things in any sales training is the principle of people buy from people.
If you embrace Social Media, you must consider the impact it can have both positive and negative. If you decide Social Media is a major channel for getting your product to market then, unless your business is internet commentator, you need a channel that social media supports.
Our quick planning consideration is as follows;
- Choose one and focus on getting it right before selecting a second.
- Do your homework on what is best for you, the business and the product.
- Engage with your audience make them want to interact.
- Grow your network, even pay for advertising to get visitors.
- Schedule interaction to engage at the right time with your potential customers.
- Ask for followers, offer an incentive or prize.
- Get some training.
- Employ a specialist to get your started.
- Have the other channels that Social Media supports.
- Assign a budget that includes Social Media as part of your overall marketing plan.
The conclusion is very much it can be a necessary evil to extend your marketing reach, but we believe that very few businesses can operate with social media as their only sales channel. Yes, it can be a great sales and marketing tool but do not expect it to be easy!
It should also be noted and worth stressing again that employing an expert will make a difference and training will allow you to supplement the approach. If you invest in your business a significant part of your marketing budget should be electronic and a chunk of that should be on your Social Media channels.
