Social Media – Is it really worth it?

 

 

Have you heard of this Crazy web service called Social Media?
Surly you have. At the very least you’ve heard of Facebook – right?

 Social Media Marketing

 

But before you go diving into Social Media and spending huge amounts of time and resources, we highly recommend you watch these videos:

 

 

 

Our summery to these videos, in 140 characters of less:
“Social Media works reasonably fine for People, Family and Friends. but not so good for Businesses trying to engage with all their customers.”

 

Well after all that’s said and done, I’m not suggesting to ignore social media altogether, instead have your business listed on your preferred social pages, or at the very least on Google My Business pages.

I wouldn’t encourage you to spend huge amounts of time and resources on trying to get Likes, besides Likes can be bought! Yes they can – have you watched the videos?  And then there’s a problem with having fake Likes.. go on and watch the videos!

Advertising can potentially attract fake clients – people that have no intention to ever visit your social page or website. They see your advert and Like your page because it gives them a ‘cover’, an extra layer of protection for when Facebook hunts for fake accounts that are used for selling Likes.

Spend just enough time and resources to get your Facebook profile looking nice so when a genuine visitors sees your profile they will understand your services and products. Also, having the additional Facebook, Twitter, Google+ icon and other Social Media icons on your website looks nice. Spend the remaining time on Adding Content to your Website, either through the Admin dashboard we set up for you or email us the content you would like to add. We are able to manage your website at affordable rates so you wont have to worry about a thing :)

 

But, there’s no denying it Social Media is everywhere. It’s on everyone’s phone, tablet and computer, it has fast become a lifestyle habit. People are staying in touch with other. The videos above shows us differently when it’s a business.

30% of Americans get their News from Facebook. Granted we’re not America. This is an indication of how important Social Media is becoming for People – again it’s a bit different for businesses. There’s family News and then there’s Business News.

Social media companies are everywhere, from Twitter, Facebook YouTube, Google+, just to name a few. You can’t go anywhere without seeing people on their Smartphones, Tablets, etc. Keeping up with what is going on in their world. It’s a lifestyle of this generation, and on average a Facebook user will spend 30+ min per day on their Facebook page. They want information and want updates on everything they are interest in, and most people are interested in their Families and Friends. There’s only a very small percentage that follow a business and keep up to date with that business. Did you know Facebook has now moved to Pay to Promote your Post for businesses, so when a Business posts on their Facebook timeline not all their followers will see that post, Facebook wants the small business to pay a fee to get that post out into the wild… and the wild could even be fake subscribers who won’t even look at your post.

 

Here are some benefits of social media:
• Businesses will find beneficial exposure on Google rankings by having Google+ presence.
• For their clientele and customer base having a Facebook profile is still recommended. But Facebook could have now pushed the ‘envelope’ a bit to far.
• Able to target an ad campaign directly to targeted audience, such as age group and interests.
• Improve your Brand awareness by having it exposed in more than just a business card. People still think thousands of Likes build Brand quality.
• Unrestricted promotions of a quick sale. Quickly advertise a special sale and have your followers rewarded with the opportunity to purchase at the posted special price. We’re actually thinking of removing this point.
• Gain referral from your happy clientele. You can reward your clientele in promoting your business.

 

And there are disadvantages:
• It takes time keeping your social profile up to date. If on Average people spend 30 minutes on their Facebook looking and reading all sort of information you will most likely spend twice that amount in keeping up.
• An out of date social account will deter potential customers. Not much useful information if your Facebook page was last updated in 2010.
• A disgruntle employee or unreasonable client can post negative experiences and not always reliable information. In such a situation your better option is to quickly reply and state what steps you had taken to sort out the issue. If they are still frustrated with your efforts, other followers should see your proactive steps in solving the issue and this could actually be a positive for such a situation.
• Hacked social accounts can be highly prevented by having a Strong Password, Not sharing it with Anyone, and Not having the password written anywhere – including in a digital format. That’s not to say the Social media network itself won’t be hacked. Usually they are able to fix the problem reasonably fast and a quick follow up on your part posting about such a hack will minimize the negative impact.

 

Now that you know something about Social Media get brain storming with your employees. Ask the younger employees what they like about using Social Media. But remember, watch those videos and don’t go overboard.

We’re able to help you set up your social presence on Facebook, Google, Twitter and others. We can  even set up automated posts on your behalf and much more. Contact Us today about getting your Social Media profile working the best it can.