Simply put: social media exists, the number of people using it is growing extremely fast and if your business isn’t engaging those people through social media, there’s a strong probability your competitors are.
When I talk to business leaders about engaging their stakeholders using social media I am generally met with two objections:
- we have no idea where to start, we can’t calculate the value and our online presence is doing just fine; and
- we don’t want our employees wasting their time online.
There are many reasons for rebuttal, but the two most common I give are:
- at minimum, your brand should occupy space in social media to listen to what people are saying about your industry/business; and
- if your employees want to waste their time online, they’ll have plenty of opportunity without restricting social media. If your employees are wasting time online, it’s likely because they’re not engaged. Use social media to engage them, interact with them and drive productivity.
To me, the whole point of social media is engagement. Engagement is multi-directional communication. Multi-directional communication allows relationships to form. Why would any business not want to build relationships with its customers?
Perhaps it all comes down to control? Old-world communications has typically been about message control. Engagement through social media, for a lot of businesses, means loss of message control. Jonathon Narvey, an influential voice in the social media scene, says in an article published in BC Business Magazine:
Succeeding with social media is not about control but about participation.
I like to think of social media as an opportunity to participate in incredible word of mouth advertising. We know that word of mouth advertising can be some of the most influential action-creating communication. We also know there is tremendous risk associated with someone else having control of the message. And here is where social media shines: traditional word of mouth communications are hard to follow and track, social media was designed to be followed and tracked. The benefits for business are tremendous–you’ve been given a platform to listen to what your customers are saying about you and react accordingly. Isn’t that the whole point of communications? And successful businesses tend to be successful because they listen to their customers.
It’s going to require time to build your brand’s presence in social media. I recommend you resist the temptation to pull the plug after a short experiment. You’re participating in community building; community and relationship building requires time. Create a plan and put it in place, including a realistic and long-term evaluation. I’d be happy to help you do this successfully.
