By Doug Stephens
Social media is as much an evolutionary reality as walking upright, yet small
businesses continue to find reasons not to participate. A recent study of 500 small businesses found that the vast majority of owners are neither marketing their business nor getting business information through social media. This is sadly reminiscent of the situation a little over a decade ago now when small business reluctantly came to the internet.
In a previous post I took aim at some of the most prevalent excuses among small businesses for staying on the social media sidelines. From the fear of latent “employee tweeting” to anxiety about brand-bashing in the blogosphere, small businesses are to a large extent, psyching themselves out of social media.
Having said that, I do feel that there are a few legitimate (but still very surmountable) reasons for not diving headlong into social media. Here are what I regard as being the top three.
1. No Budget: The early press on social media spawned a misconception that it was without cost. Well, if time is worth nothing, then that’s correct. But of course time isn’t free – whether it’s your own time or someone else’s. While websites are like houses that are built and then perhaps added onto, a social media program is more like a garden that requires daily attention in order to grow and stay healthy. In the early stages you may be able to handle the workload yourself, but as your social media garden grows, it may be wise to hire someone to manage it for you. You should also budget for a range of ancillary costs. You may need to “tweak” your website, adding feeds and links to and from social media channels as the need arises.
2. No Plan: The social media highway is becoming littered with companies that began without a plan and broke down shortly after setting out. Without objectives and a clear sense of the steps required to succeed, social media can be highly ineffective and even detrimental. How you use social medial, the media channels you choose, and to whom you direct your messages are vitally important. You need to ask yourself some questions before setting out. Do you see social media as a customer service tool or a means of spreading information about products or promotions…or both? Do you intend to write a full blog or just share bite-size pieces of information through micro-blogs like Twitter? Which social media channels are your customers actively using or engaging in and how can you connect with them? Will you measure success in terms of sales or simply the number of customer relationships you develop? And what is a customer relationship worth to you?
3. No Content: If social media were a rocket, content would be the fuel that propels it. And with the extraordinary growth of social media, quality content is rapidly becoming the primary differentiator between successful and unsuccessful Social Media programs. Content can take a variety of forms including blogs, video, photos or podcasts. Regardless of your choice, the only iron-clad requirement is that the content has real value to someone- hopefully the target audience. If you don’t see yourself developing original content, then perhaps you can leverage some from your suppliers, manufacturers or even trade associations. Content doesn’t have to be home grown to be valuable. There’s value in being an aggregator of information for your audience and creating an epicenter for what’s new and exciting in your product or service category.
So, while there are some very legitimate reasons for not rushing into social media, none of them are showstoppers. They just require solid planning, management and ongoing attention and that’s really nothing new…is it?