Is A Social Media Investment Right For My Business?
Every social media person will tell you social media is important for your business. There is a lot that can be done when you are active in social media, but that doesn’t always mean becoming social is a good idea for your business.
Why not?
There are a variety of reasons why social media is not going to work for you, but let’s hit on the most common:
The Social Media Business Investment
The biggest issue for most businesses is they don’t have the time to invest in social media.
Regardless of whether it is beneficial to your business or not, if you don’t have the time to handle social media, there is no way you’ll be successful using it.
When you can’t invest the time in social media, the next step is to outsource it.
That is a sticky situation because it can get very expensive, a lot faster than you’ll see results- buying entire packages can cost thousands a month, and it often takes 3-6 months before you’ll see a return on the investment.
Some companies have their interns, office staff or new graduates handle social media because it is cheaper. The problem here is mistakes are easy to make in social media, and people who are not trained well in it won’t see good results.
On Going Investment Of Content & Persistence
Everyday you should post to your social media accounts. This should include images, shared links, tips and ideas, points of view etc. It costs money to have this content generated, and since you’ll need social media on an on-going basis you can’t over look this expense.
Whoever is handling your social media should be spending a lot of time reading. Social media changes every week and if you don’t stay on top of the changes you’ll miss out on the best results.
Before starting a social media account, it’s best to consider if your company can really handle the commitment. Your fans and followers expect you to be on social media, but more than that, they expect you to be there often. They even come to depend on seeing your updates, so you have to be ready to deliver.
Why Your Business Is Worth A Social Media Investment
As you can see, there is a lot involved in using social media for business. This is fine though, if you can handle the commitment. Some people thoroughly enjoy it, and make the time, but for others if you can’t make the time, it might not be a right for your company.
On the other hand, social media professionals are right- social media is important for your business. You have to weigh the pros and cons, because it can be vital to your company. Let’s take a look:
Consumers Want Simple Customer Service Options
We are past the days where consumers want to sit on the phone for an hour to talk to a customer service rep. People want answers and they want them now. Social media is one way consumers feel they should be able to access a company to address their questions and concerns.
From store hours to order issues, it’s easier for a customer to leave a fanpage message and see it when they login to Facebook. On Twitter requests for help are usually public, and highly common, just a couple of these requests left unresponded to can result in massive backlash from other Twitter users.
Your Company Loves Exposure
The smaller your company is, the more additional exposure would make a difference to your bottom line. If you could make the time, or social media investment another way to learn and use social media, it can be beneficial in many ways.
For instance, instead of waiting for your customers to come back to you when they want to, you can reach out to them through Facebook, Twitter or even Pinterest. You might already use email which is even better than social media, but social media has the viral component that gives you a higher possibility of reaching even more people.
Social Media Can Lead Directly To Sales
A properly designed social media strategy can bring in more sales, and when tracked appropriately you can see where the sales are coming from, and how many are being made.
Don’t get me wrong, it takes time, but when done with goals in mind and a strategy to run by, it can work. Check out my last post to read about industries effectively using social media blogging to learn more.
How To Handle Getting Started
There are two options to make the social media investment work- Time or Money
If you can find the time, you’ll need to start reading and working on your social media profile- put in some time every day.
On the other hand, if you can handle hiring for social media services, you should be able to start with a budget around $500 a month.
What Next? To get started read my post on social media costs to fully understand why you’ll be paying for.
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Good question Mary 😉 Persistence is the different maker. Make a long haul commit to do social right. Thanks!
​I am creating a website based on a few recent court cases in which social media posts, email transcripts, and IP addresses were the only methods used to convict the defendant. In one case, a man was charged with selling drugs online, arrested, his house was never searched, and the only evidence were conversations between the undercover officer, and the alleged defendant, who could have been anyone. I am going to need a LOT of these types of articles. They need to be persuasive, well researched, cited, and demonstrate how a post/email/or even IP address isn’t like a DNA sample. They could be generated by anyone. http://www.radiationcomputerstation.com
Thank you for commenting Matt, I’m not sure I would be able to help with this sort of project but I would love to hear more about these cases- very interesting.
Mary