Social Media – Must Have or Myth?

Unless you have been hibernating for the last 12 – 18 months, you will have surely heard of the social media revolution that is sweeping into our personal and work lives. Social media tools give individuals and businesses the power to send bitesize bits of information for consumption by multiple users simultaneously, once again widening our ever increasing circles of media consumption and giving more oopportunity than ever before for you to communicate with customers and potential customers alike.

For individuals, social media offers clear benefits and advantages – a way to keep in touch with those overseas, a way to find long lost relatives and friends, a way to consume media and find information like never before.

For many businesses, the benefits of social media are not quite so clear and many business owners find themselves undertaking social media with little or no research, experience or appreciation of what is involved or if indeed social media marketing is for them.

Social media can be a very powerful medium for brand awareness raising and direct selling if used correctly and if you are considering social media for your business – here are a few basic pointers on how to get started:-

• THINK about whether it is relevant. Social media marketing doesn’t suit all types of businesses – a pop/rock band will benefit far more from social media campaigns than the local garage for example.
• DO undertake social media with eyes wide open – research the most suitable social media platforms for your business and focus on these.
• DON’T overstretch yourself – despite all the wonderful tools available to social media marketers today – www.tweetdeck.com, social media posting can be time consuming if you make it. Better to post good information to two or three high profile sites than poor information to 100 “invisible” ones.
• DON’T talk exclusively on one subject - mix up your posts with information about the industry, your business and ensure that you pass on good information you find.
• KEEP it short and sweet and don’t overpost “sales” orientated messages.
• BE consistent – post regularly with varying pieces of information and messages – keep it interesting for the reader.
• USE your website newsfeed (if you have one) to post to social media networks and vice versa.

If you are serious about social media marketing or are currently campaigning with no return on investment and are not sure where to start, please contact Karen or her team at Elan CM Ltd to find out more.

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