Social Media: What Is a Business to Do?

It’s everywhere. Articles, blogs, websites, service providers…all compelling businesses to “do” social media. Your competition is doing it. Maybe you’re doing it.

I want to point out a parallel from yesteryear to what we’ve been experiencing in the last few years. Back in the 1990s, it was common for agencies to field these kinds of comments and questions from clients:

• We feel like we need to have a website, but we don’t know what it should be like or what it should do.
• Do we need to just have a “presence” or do we need a more robust site?
• Why should we be doing what?
• How much will it cost, and what will these efforts yield?
• How will we be able to measure success or ROI and tie it to these efforts?
• Is it too late for my company to get it, that is, have a website?

These are the same kinds of questions we’ve been answering during the more recent years, only this time, it’s people questioning their companies’ activity with social media, not their company website.

These questions and the answers surrounding them can be perplexing or literally worrisome to some. In particular, we’ve seen this when meeting with new clients who haven’t been guided by an agency in the social media realm. It can simply be overwhelming to strategize and operationalize an effective social media program for a business without dedicating multiple hours a week, or all the way up to a full-time position or more (yes, even full departments!) for larger companies.

What are some top tips for those seeking to build or create their social media presence?

• Talk with your trusted marketing/public relations professional. Examine your strategy, purpose/goals, options and costs.
• Remember, it’s better and more effective to “do” (actively participate in) one or two social media channels well than it is to do more of them poorly.
• You don’t have to do everything at once. Start with a master plan/strategy and grow into it according to your time and budget constraints.

With professional guidance and operational support, you’ll be able to maximize the benefits of social media for your business with the right mix of time and resource investment.