Why Businesses Should Engage in Social Media
written by Kenny Harper
Posted October 29th, 2009
If you look at FaceBook and Twitter and think, “I don’t get it” or “I don’t have time for that” you’re not alone. Not all that long ago the technology wasn’t even around. I myself actually didn’t get Twitter at first. I thought “I’m not going to waste my time, I’m going to focus on work”. Well, apparently I didn’t get the memo; social media is a growing medium of advertising. It’s great, effective and very helpful to businesses of all sizes. However, it does take strategy, planning, and time to be effective.
Why social media is a must for businesses of all sizes:
Not every business needs a Twitter or a LinkedIn account necessarily. There are definitely “different strokes for different folks” but unless you are set with the amount of business you currently have, and don’t mind losing any, I’d advise at least having a digital presence; your competitors probably will.
Social Media allows businesses to:
- Engage with their customers
- Research what people are saying about their business
- Gain insight on where their industry is going
- Network with others in their industry
- Gain loyalty with clients
Having the social media outlets is just the beginning
You can have a YouTube and a Twitter account and be using them but if you have no strategy you may not be using them as effectively as you could. Why bother putting more time or money into it? Because by making social connections with others, i.e., networking, you’ll gain more followers and have more loyalty if you give people a reason to return or to share with their contacts. The potential benefits of social media networking and marketing are unlimited. Some people have shared a link of a video with a few friends and the link goes viral and gets thousands of viewers within a few hours. Most efforts will not go viral but no effort is a great way to fail.
If you need help with your social media marketing, whether it’s creating a strategy, branding your accounts or just have some general questions, feel free to drop me a line at kenny@keytheory.com.
Here’s a cool slideshow showing you how you can measure your ROI with social media.
Posted in: Social Media | Tags: Networking, Social Media, Strategy
