Written by: Administrator Account
3/7/2011 10:18 AM 

Unless you are Rip Van Winkle, you’re certainly aware of the Social Media craze that offers new life and further reach to the way we socialize.  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube, blogs, etc. are gaining users at amazing rates, but are they viable marketing tools?

Marketing using Social Media is becoming very popular.  I now have several clients that are so excited about this new marketing opportunity that they have hired us to handle their social media presences for them so that they are assured that their online presences get updated (and updated well).  The main reason for this is that social media is time consuming to maintain.  Even maintaining one social media presence (Facebook for example) can be very time consuming, but add in Linkedin and Twitter and who could possibly handle that and continue to do their job effectively?  The other reason is that if you are putting in the effort (whether it be your time or your money to hire someone) you want to make sure that it is done well and with a strategy in mind.  Simply sending out “It’s a beautiful day today” or “I’m going to New York City” isn’t going to benefit a company’s marketing effort.  The strategy is key and proceeding in Social Media Marketing without one is a waste of resources and can possibly be detrimental to your marketing efforts. 

So should you be social or not?  Well I’d suggest that it depends on your business, marketing goals, and resources.  Certainly you should acquire your social media real estate.  Get your company name into the main Social Media portals (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and possibly YouTube).  That way you are ready when and if you decide to begin.  My second recommendation is to start slowly.  Choose one portal to be active with and see how it goes.  Set a schedule for yourself as to how often you will make updates and come up with a plan for content.  Social media should not simply replicate what you have on a web site or in other marketing efforts.  Social media needs a specific strategy depending on the portal/community you are joining.  Make sure you know what’s “acceptable” to the users of that portal so that you set yourself up for success.  Once you get going, let your clients and prospects know you are active there and encourage them to connect to you (like, follow, link, etc.).

Pet Peeve:  my pet peeve for business social marketing is being too casual with it.  Although most social media users tend to approach social media with a much more casual approach to their messages and content, don’t lower the bar too low.  Spelling mistakes and poor grammar will still reflect poorly on your company so be careful. 

Give Social Media Marketing a try by planning well and starting slowly. You may find that the synergy between online socializing and your business will pay off in the long run.

Chris Meyer, Editor

editor@budgetbusinessmarketing.com

Copyright ©2011 C.D. Meyer, Inc.

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