Social media, not for me!
Posted on November 6, 2008 by Tom
Just like the dot com hype in the 90ies, ’social media’ are becoming hot. Applications like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter,… make it possible to interact on a much larger scale than ever before. A lot of passionate ‘early adopters’ (I really hate the term but can’t find anything else to describe them) preach passionately that this is the time to get in. Companies should act now before it’s too late! Startups that specialize in blogdesign, Facebook search optimization,… pop-up and try to convince companies they’re the new ‘big thing’. Knowledge about the subject is still limited and it’s tempting when a so-called ‘expert’ explains what’s what. But do you really need social media? Does your company benefit from a community?
· Use. It’s important to understand that companies can always benefit from the use of social media, but is it usefull? Does it give proper ROI? The biggest fairytale is that social media are cheap and easy. Planning, executing a proper online strategy takes a lot of time. And above all, it’s a long term strategy, something a lot of companies can’t grasp. Just like in real life, you start with just 1 customer and go from there.
· Networking. Someone who tells you that a virtual contact is worth as much as a real life contact is lying. There’s no proper online alternative for posture, speech patterns, emotions,… Social media are a steppingstone towards building a relationship. It’s a means to and end, it can’t be the goal.
· Scalability. The biggest advantage of social media, the possibility to expand your network on a global scale. Not every company benefits from that kind of scalability and there are plenty of local alternatives so you can avoid using social media.
· Information. Social media are a huge resource. Especially customer based companies have a lot to gain by gathering as much information as they can. Input can be used to optimize products and services. It can be used as another tool to communicate with your clients and maintain relationships.
Though knowledge about the subject is limited, it evolves at a rapid pace. Gather enough information before diving in blindfolded. Don’t let so-called experts tempt you in making decisions you’ll regret or never see return on. Use common sense and wonder if it’s usefull.
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You may want to read:
- Want your social media campaign to work? Don’t sell anything.
- Guest post: The perfect social media set-up
- What social media isn’t
