How your business can SQUEEZE ROI out of Social Media

Social Media is an important tool for growing your business but it’s a big subject and the hype around it sometimes is unbearable.  Figuring out how to take advantage of social media is confusing at best.  As an Internet Marketing Consultant I regularly run into business people who believe that it is probably important but don’t know where to start or even if they should.  The fact is that any well thought out internet marketing campaign that is going to have a decent ROI is going to be holistic and it will include some form of social media platform.  This won’t answer all of your questions but it will give you a good place to start.  We have clarified this subject for a lot of businesses and hopefully we will help you have a better picture to make more informed decisions in regards to your marketing investments.

So where do you start and what can you do to use social media more effectively without it sucking up all your time?  Let’s take a look  at 3 main points:

How should you define social media?
How do you know what role social media plays in your internet marketing strategy?
Where can I start today?

How should you define social media?

First and foremost it’s important to understand that social media is not Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Pinterest or LinkedIn.  These are all social media platforms or software companies and they are only the most popular as of this writing.  Social Media at its core is any software/website that brings people together in one place on the internet and allows them to communicate in near real time with text, pictures, video and whatever else we can think of.

It literally is internet media that allows us to be social without being face to face.

Social media is used to generalize about a particular platform and at the same time the concept itself.  Most people when put on the spot to define it will give you the name of a social media platform like Facebook.  Then they tell you that if you’re not on social media you’re missing out. The New York Times published an article that said if you’re not on social media you will go out of business. That’s a bold statement and while it may have some truth in it, it is really misleading especially if it suggests that social media is just a single thing that you can be on… And it’s not!

How do you know what role social media plays in your internet marketing strategy?

The reason this is important is because software platforms come and go as in the case of MySpace. MySpace used to be the hip place to be and now it’s a relic with a somewhat sketchy reputation.  Twenty-four months ago no one knew about Pinterest and now it’s taking the world by storm.  The other reason it’s important to realize the difference between social media in general and social media platforms is that every platform has its own rules and its own unique way to use them for business. 

For instance, Facebook isn’t the best platform for B2B marketing but it could be useful for ecommerce sights or even brick and mortar businesses like restaurants.  Twitter is really good for newsfeed style information like sports, and works if your company has lots of newsy things to talk about.  It’s not so good if your industry doesn’t have as much news like selling oil tankers or llama ranches.  If the llama ranchers aren’t on twitter I think they will still have a job next year.  Of course there is always an exception. 

The point is that if you see the platforms as different from social media in general then you will make wiser decisions on where to invest your time and resources.

To know what role social media or a particular platform has in your internet marketing strategy you need to understand your short and long term goals.  Remember folks, this may be new technology but it’s just good old fashioned business you’re conducting with real people.  As consultants we always start with our clients goals and then go from there.

Where can I start today?

If you’re a B2B (business to business) type of company you can start with a Twitter account.  An account is easy to set up and easy to quickly post news to. If you’re B2C (business to consumer), maybe you should start with a Facebook page and later you can put up a LinkedIn page. For now you should just get something up and going for now. It doesn’t have to be complicated. For example, does your business have a blog? If so, then you could create a Facebook business page and just start engaging with your audience but automating your blog posts, so that each time you post a blog, it will post to Facebook. (If you don’t have a company blog, you should! Read more about why here). You could also just post a link on your Facebook page to some interesting industry news. The important thing is that you’re posting relevant content and you’re posting it consistently.

It’s easy to get started with social media, but it can feel overwhelming. That’s when you need the help of an internet marketing consultant. Be sure to subscribe to our blog so you will receive our tips and advice to help grow your business. We’ll let you in on a little secret right now: check back soon for our guide about setting up a Facebook page for your business.