Why Should You Do Social Media? It seems to be a huge topic of discussion. Why make the effort to do social media? Why spend your money on social media strategies and campaigns? Why optimize my company within social media? Why do it at all?
Here's five reasons not to do it.
1. You, yourself, do not understand, like or even tolerate social media. Though, if that's true I'm not entirely clear on why you're reading this blog, but I'll go with it. If you do not have the desire to understand social media - even a very basic level of understanding, it'll be very hard for you to watch your company use it. I once knew a man who spent his whole life writing on a typewriter. He continued to use it even when his company switched to computers. Now, that would have been fine, but he criticized and complained about the computers in the office to the point where he drove people to distraction. The same thing can happen if your company uses social media campaigns. You can shoot yourself in the foot before you even start. So if you can't handle it, then don't jump into it.
2. Your target audience doesn't use social media or the social media area you want to campaign in. This is one that's a simple common sense point that is easily overlooked. Does your target audience use social media? Kids usually don't, but their moms do and their moms are more likely to be part of a Yahoo Group than a Myspace one. Research who the demographic is behind a social media site before using it. Places like Myspace are usually more teen-oriented, Facebook is becoming more college and a lot of middle-aged users, Digg is more twenty-somethings. And also be aware that the demographic can change - quickly. Facebook used to have more teens, but with the influx of their parents the majority of teens have left.
3. You don't have the time. Effective social media is conversations. It's talking with people through the vast array of sites and services online. It's blogging, it's twittering, it's bookmarking and stumbling, it's creating a following of people who would be interested in what your company has to offer. If you don't have time to engage in the conversation on some level (even if you hire a company to make your campaigns) then don't worry about doing social media. For social media to work the consumer wants to hear from you. They want to feel connected to you. Three of my favorite singers all are people who posted as often as possible on his their own message boards. They connect with their fans. The same thing needs to be true of you and your company. You're the "rock star" and when consumers feel like they can be "close" to you, that breeds intense loyality to your brand.
4. All you're going to do is spam. I've got enough spam in my life, I really don't need more. Neither does the world at large. Don't hard sell me your company, your product or your way of life. Soft sell me sometimes, but not all the time either. Enter the conversation, give me relevant and great information, establish a quasi-relationship then offer up your company. If I'm already a fan of your particular company give me the power to be an evangelist for it. Give me banners and logos I can use on my blog. Make it easy for me to add something to Facebook or Digg.
5. You want to do it all now. If you want immediate results, I'd suggest getting another strategy. While social media campaigns can produce a great number of "instant" results in comparison with traditional PR with it's long leads, there are some things that need time to "break" into mainstream thought within social media. You can't make a 5,000 hits a day blog overnight and you can't be considered an "expert" within minutes. You have to be willing to give it some time.
What am I saying? Trust the people involved in doing social media. Learn from them. Take the time to learn your audience and the audience of the social media sites you engage in. Understand that there can be "hot" times in social media but there also are times where you need to be patient.
And don't spam. I hate even the canned variety.