As the owner of a social media marketing company, some may think that I believe that every single business under the sun should be active on social media. That simply is not the case. It's not for everyone or for every business. Now, I would argue that MOST businesses could only benefit from more exposure and the majority of a business's audience and potential client base is active on social media. There are some cases where it just doesn't make sense for a business owner to make the leap to social media just because someone told them to. Here are a few:
1. The owner is against it: Have you ever tried to persuade someone to work out or quit smoking or do anything that they did not really want to do? Not only is this frustrating for both parties, but rarely are the desired results achieved. Well, the same goes for social media. If a business owner is not on board, they simply will not put forth the effort (or be willing to invest in a firm to put forth the effort) that is needed to be successful.
 |
| Is there ever enough time? |
2. Not enough time to post consistently: Leaving a social media page dormant or unattended is similar to leaving a store empty and abandoned. Could you imagine walking into an open store and no one was there to help you because they were too busy? Crazy right? Even worse, what if one day the store is open then the next day it's not? Some think that you can you setup profiles and now you're "on social media". Well, it actually needs to be maintained. Daily. What if a business owner does take the time to post, but doesn't have time to respond to comments and mentions? It could do more harm than help for the business owner that doesn't have time to keep up with the daily duties of social media. When comments go unanswered, it's the same as a phone going unanswered. "Guess they're too busy...", or "I guess they don't care."
3. The product or service isn't very good: Hear me out on this one. There are some businesses out there that focus primarily on volume and care nothing about quality and/or customer service. This type of business would get buried by negative publicity on their social media accounts. Basically social media enhances what a business already is. If you provide an outstanding product or service and more people know about it and talk about it, your business will continue to grow because people will comment on how great your product or service is. Basically, a social media presence alone will not fix a broken business, but it will greatly benefit an excellent one.
 |
| Results take time |
4. Results are expected immediately: We all know that person that gets a gym membership, goes for a month or two and says, "well that didn't work". Social media marketing is very similar to working out to get in shape. People that just want to "give it a shot" and expect tons of clients and referrals overnight should stay clear of social media. Just like you can't do a few bicep curls and be in the best shape of your life, you cannot post for a few weeks and expect clients to line up right away. Building an online relationship and reputation takes time. Those that want immediate results should keep searching for the magic pill that brings all of the leads ;) P.S, if you find it, let us know!
5. Don't want exposure: Believe it or not, there are people out there that do not want any more business than they already have or simply do not want the exposure. With millions of people using social media on a daily basis (multiple times per day), your business will be seen. If you are a private person or do not want people to know what you do for a living, or you do not want any more exposure for your business, do not use social media. Conversely, if it's important to you and your business for people to know about your company, I couldn't find a better way to get the word out to the masses than through social media.
As always, if you find yourself in category #2, we are here to help. We manage social media campaigns for our clients so they can do what they do best: Provide a great service or product for their customers! Please share with someone that's on the fence about social media.
No comments:
Post a Comment