Do you have people around you at work telling you: “We have to be on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, and start a blog” ?
It’s so easy to get caught up in the energy (and dare I say hype!) that surrounds many of the current generation of online communication tools and social media marketing. Yes, many of them can benefit your business but let’s not forget it’s important to ask the why question:
- Why do we need a blog?
- Why should our company be on Twitter?
- Why do we need a business Facebook Fan Page?
This comes down to strategy, and thinking through your social media marketing needs and goals.
If, for example, you want to be able to connect with your audience at a moment’s notice, say, when a crisis hits, a blog or micro-blog can be an essential part of your communication toolkit. So go ahead: build and nurture your blog and social media presence so you have that tool available if and when the crisis hits.
Do, however, think carefully about where to put your efforts and valuable resources because it takes considerable resources and sustained effort to build a strong social media marketing presence on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, YourCompanyBlog, and so on.
Think Before You Tweet
It’s so easy to get on Twitter, Facebook, etc, or set up a blog that your company can be on these platforms literally in a matter of minutes without having thought about what you actually want to use them for.
The trouble is there’s nothing worse than a half-abandoned business blog, twitter account or Facebook Fan Page. Lame statements about updating soon will only hurt your brand. That’s why you really need to think through why you need to be on a particular platform before you commit to developing a presence there.
I’ve personally found that a lot of my clients are keen to build a community presence on Facebook at the moment. I can’t help wondering though whether this is because their customers really are already on Facebook (well, the stats do seem to suggest so!) or is it because Facebook has been pushed so heavily by the mainstream media as the Must Have business marketing tool this year in Stockholm, Sweden?
A Few of the Whys
This list isn’t exhaustive, but here are a few reasons why I think your business should be using social media.
I personally believe that you need a blog to:
- improve your search results in Google
- showcase your skills, services and products
- show visitors to your site who you are and what you do by being open
- engage in conversations
I recommend your company has a Facebook Page to:
- chat more informally about your services and products
- listen to your customers
- share help and advice related to your business
- drive visitors to your homepage / blog where there are calls-to-action
- learn more about your audience
I think it’s great to be on Twitter to:
- chat more informally with customers
- listen to what’s being said about you and your competitors
- be on the look out for news that’s related to your industry
- share useful and helpful information in a friendly way
- show a different side of your company persona
Related posts:
I see we have a lot in common in how we think about Socialmedia, and how to use the tools available for us to create leverage in our promotions. Great post as always Jon!
Thanks Anders. Appreciate you stopping by. Also liked your comments about Posterus on Twitter :=)
Jon-
Great article, thanks for sharing. What are your thoughts on having the same information on your blog as you do on your Facebook page?
Hi Adam, Thanks for stopping by.
I don’t think it’s necessary to have the same info on a blog and FB page. The tools are slightly different. FB, for me, is more about engaging and discussing things with people. You can also use it to funnel traffic to quality content on your blog. So I think there are key differences.
My approach to all online communication, no matter the channel or platform, is to think about what is the desired end result. And then work through the strategy to achieve that.