There is always something new to learn about Social Media Marketing. I am using the term rather loosely here and including social networking as well.
The idea for this post occurred to me a couple of days ago as I was talking to some entrepreneur friends of mine, and I thought it was worth sharing some real-world insights.
If there is anything you’ve learned from using Social Media (or perhaps using it and then stopping) please add to the conversation by sharing something you’ve learned –about social media, social media marketing and/or social media networking… my thoughts are by no means exhaustive.
Here are my top 7 things.
1. Social media marketing is a huge opportunity for businesses and marketers
No longer does an SME (small to medium enterprise) need to have a marketing budget running into millions. Nor do they need to engage an agency for many thousands of $$$. Social media marketing has leveled the playing field for smaller businesses to play with the “big companies.” This is not to say you don’t need a budget at all. Smart marketers will know that you do need a budget. However a company can write and publish their own news releases, start and run a blog, promote themselves through a myriad of networks and get their brand, name and message out to their audience and promote themselves in a way that would have been impossible a few years ago. And yes, getting more clients is on the list as well, whether these are local or international. You name it; social media and the Internet has made it possible – and much less costly.
2. Social media marketing requires a strategy
Without a social media marketing plan, detailing your strategic business goals and how your social media marketing will help you meet them, the probability of getting overwhelmed very quickly is, in a word, high. I am hearing this more and more as I talk to businesses. Business people are almost drowning in social media/social media marketing options, or at best struggling to keep up. Every single social media tool has the “jump in, it’s great!” hook. Promises of 15K followers abound… but do you need 15K or 100K followers? Why? Can you manage that number? There is nothing wrong with having large numbers of followers if that is what your business goals need. But is it the be-all and end-all for you? You need a plan so you can weed out the unnecessary distractions and the noise.
What’s your social media marketing strategy?
3. Social media marketing and Social Media networking require clear goals
If you are in business this should be a business goal. Ideally your social media marketing and networking efforts should move you towards your business goal. Many have jumped in without clearly articulating their business goal – this isn’t a good idea because overwhelm soon becomes a problem. And in addition to setting goals you need to know when you’ve reached your them. What’s your social media marketing business goal?
4. Social Media Marketing demands your presence
There’s no getting away from this one. People want to hear from you. You want to hear from them, hopefully. They respond to your personality through your “voice.” Therefore, you can’t simply completely “opt-out” and outsource your “presence” to a proxy. Smaller businesses are struggling with this because they can’t be everywhere. Anything that directly hits the bottom line (like billable work) is going to take priority. It’s hard to decide where exactly to be, and even more challenging to allocate the right amount of time. It’s necessary to prioritize, but how?
This brings me to the next point. Large companies by default are not personal, they are entities. Their job is to try to become more personal, something that’s no easy task unless they let go and allow their customers to show them how.
5. Social media marketing’s currency is TIME
This is the new “elephant in the room”. Maybe it’s not even an elephant. Whatever it is, it seems almost every entrepreneur I speak to right now is struggling with the time commitment social media marketing requires of them. Some are also struggling with a new feeling – guilt. Guilt that they can’t tweet enough, can’t keep up with their networks, and profiles, follow on Twitter as much as they’d like to, can’t write the 1,000’s of articles they need to write to get exposure. Can’t update their blogging projects as often as they need or want to, can’t (and don’t want to) keep up with the Social Media Joneses.
Some are doing the wise thing (those with a marketing plan) tell me they are not going on Twitter as they can’t guarantee they they have the resources to commit to it. Some are scaling back. They are keeping to what they know works for them – and where they are seeing actual results.
Social Media marketing demands time… and plenty of it. It needs the time investment spent up-front and consistently. While most begin enthusiastically, interest and activity tapers off within months if not continually stoked. Meanwhile the number of social media marketing and networking applications multiplies… with no hint of slowing down. They may be useful but they add to the sense of overwhelm. Which is why you need a strategy.
I will be doing an e-course on how to manage your social media time (with time saving tips) because this is such a growing challenge. If you’re not signed up for my newsletter 19 Rules Ezine or 19 Copytips, get on it today.
6. Social Media Marketing involves marketing yourself
Essentially Social media marketing is relationship marketing. Getting people to know like and trust you and hopefully do business with you.Without marketing, there is no business. I personally see marketing as an investment, rather than a cost (seeing marketing as a cost is one of the biggest mistakes a business can make).
As you understand your prospects you get to understand their business problems and how your services can help solve those problems. While it’s not a good idea to over-promote, it’s equally not a good idea to under promote yourself and your services. You must learn to market and to sell. Some social networks (Twitter comes immediately to mind) are more “anti-promotion” than others (regardless of the “no-rules” policy). While some have simply ignored this, (or found ways around it), and are using these networks as part of their marketing channel, (remembering that relentless marketing is a turn-off) it’s wise to choose a social network not because it’s popular but because it contributes to your business goals (read – financial business goals), and how much ability and freedom you have to promote your services in your network.
Getting a lead is only as good as how well it converts into a sale. Tons of traffic to your site of blog is nice (as I write I am getting loads from Stumble Upon for one of my posts which is great), but not much good if it fails to translate to conversions. In the same way, it’s great to have lots of “friends” on Facebook, however even better if the majority of those “friends” are your target market and responsive to your offers. By the way, that’s what Facebook Pages are about, though Facebook needs to do a better job of promoting that fact.
7. Not all businesses are on the Social Media trail
When you are online it seems that everyone knows what Social Media is, even if they’re still juggling it somewhat. Everyone has something to say and these new social media channels give us the tools to say it.
And while we have reports of huge numbers said to be using social networks for business, offline there are large swathes of businesses that are not using social networking at all. Some don’t see the point, seeing it as just one more thing to pack into an already overflowing day. Some think social media is simply noise and want to know how it translates into bottom line results before they use it (something that many social media efforts haven’t been able to do yet, because this happens over time and with consistent effort). While social media marketing is an opportunity for businesses, it isn’t a quick fix and one size does not fit all. It’s also only an opportunity for those who are able to spot and use it. Building closer relationships with your audience in order to serve and engage with them is always a good reason to use social media marketing. However businesses must be prepared for the time commitment. “9 Quick Tips for Social Media Success make a good article but not a robust strategy.
Clearly there is also work to be done in selling (marketing?) Social media marketing to offline businesses as well as online – with the full story – that it’s not a slam dunk and it takes hard work, commitment and maintenance over time to see lasting results.
Those are my top 7. Have any thoughts or insights to add? Have your say by leaving a comment.
on 
{ 1 trackback }
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post and you’re right on the money. Social can be overwhelming and if you don’t have a plan you’re going to be going around in circles.Social isn’t going away and those who are not currently participating will have to do so eventually so why not jump in now and claim your space.The sooner you start building relationships on line the better. If you’re not doing it your competition is!
Great post! I agree on all bullets and would like to ask if you feel that Social media marketing works best in:
A. Locale
B. National
C. Regional
D. global
The language barrier is of course an obvious hinder for reaching the whole connected population of our planet and that speaks against the Global option.
A penny for your thoughts.
I’m one of those to whom you referred; have mentioned my antiquated content on my web site — where, where can I find more time?
Would like to say, critically, business owners who believe they do not need agencies may not; however, public relations remains valid. Professional and strategic, top-down view of messaging, targets, etc. incorporating social media into full marcom campaign will lead to long-term success.
Thanks for these comments; I look forward to registering for your time-management workshop. Not sure whether I’ll be able to squeeze more blood from the turnip, but I’ll try!
I think it is/will get much harder for smaller companies to keep their voices above the noise.
It’s easy to try to participate everywhere, but it’s only getting harder to compete for the time and attention of everyone else!
@John – excellent points. I think if social media is approached strategically it can cut down so much of the noise. Building relationships to bring existing clients closer and engage with new ones has to be a powerful reason to engage online. And then of course, the fact that it’s more than likely foot draggers will be overtaken by the competition.
@ Robert.. Good question. I really think it can work in any of them. I think the question is less about “does it work best” and more “how could it adapt to accomodate regional differences.
Imagine a local company wanting to use social media to look for local leads. With regional search and the ability to target locally social media marketing would only extend their reach. Another example might be a restaurant wanting to attract and cater to local clientele.
and if anyone else has a view please just jump in.
I don’t think being National or Regional poses any barriers, in fact, again it can enhance the entire interaction (depending on what you were focusing on, I’m speaking very generally).
You have a point about potential global language limitations, however with the ability to translate entire applications, sites etc, even that doesn’t have to be a barrier these days. It would depend on the company, the country, and the language – as well as the goals of the company. Unless social networking sites are completely banned in a country, the internet makes it possible to connect, share and engage from almost anywhere in the world. I hope I addressed your question let me know if I didn’t
@Grok – I think you’re right. Time is finite and there are only so many things you can do at the same time. I believe we are already doing too much too fast in an effort to juggle incessantly and a good move is to eliminate the noise as soon as you can.
All the more reason why smaller companies need to be strategic and selective and not try and participate everywhere but where over time there will be the biggest return on time. This isn’t just money. The good thing about social media marketing is that enables the one to one rather than the mass-market approach. I see smaller splinter specialized networks and groups forming around common (selective?) interests with less noise and more focus.
Thanks all – great comments.
@ Jayme – “however, public relations remains valid. Professional and strategic, top-down view of messaging, targets, etc. incorporating social media into full marcom campaign will lead to long-term success.”
I could not agree more.
I think PR (and traditional marketing to some extent) is suffering from a social media “backlash” when in fact they all need to be incorporated so they work together. Kind of like throwing out the baby with the bathwater to coin a phrase. As you say Public Relations plays an important part in the marketing effort. Chances are a smaller business may need help in handling PR – even if they don’t use a full service agency. Having a marketing plan, with targets and strategy that include social media marketing and social networking as centra is crucial for success. Right on the money… let’s hope you won’t have to squeeze any blood from anywhere.. I will do my best to make it as simple as possible…and not add to the busyness.
Thanks for commenting, always appreciated