Do you feel a bit of overwhelmed right now when it comes to the "things you should be doing in social media"
to help reach your business goals? You hear "post here", "tweet this", "share this", "you gotta be using...website", etc. If your like me you get bombarded with these types of suggestions from many sources out on the web. Although there are some excellent sources of information when it comes to utilizing social media for business, it still doesn't paint a picture on how we can use it as a solution to reach our business goals. To add even more confusion to the picture, you may have also been approached by someone willing to manage your social networking accounts for you for a fee. Although this seems like a nice service, why are we even considering it to begin with. All of these different thoughts can leave us feeling scattered and confused. To overcoming this feeling of overwhelm start thinking about your business goals. Are they to "sell more of..." or "save time in...". There are a number of different goals that you might have right now, but the key in utilizing social media marketing to its fullest potential is to first realize what they are. When I work with clients directly I help to identify these goals. This is a key business fundamental that must be determined before considering any avenue, not just social media - for example, before a restaurant owner decorates their walls they need to identify what kind of restaurant they want to run or even the type of customers they are appealing to. The solution is the paint, pictures and any other items that give a restaurant character. The goal then becomes getting the walls painted. The type and color paint, style of pictures, where the pictures go and other decisions then become the tactics that produce the outcome of giving the restaurant the character it needs. Social media gives you the opportunity to implement tactics, but out of the box it's not a direct solution that help you reach your goals without a bit of direction. Think of this example and how it relates to your social media efforts. Before you send your next tweet or update your status, take a moment to think to yourself:
- "Why I am I doing this?"
- "What purpose does this serve".
- "Is there a better way of doing this that is more in alignment with what goals I am trying to achieve?"
If you are having trouble identifying the avenue on how to use social media tools to accomplish your goals also consider working with someone that specializes in helping you best utilize the tools that exist. This is more than having someone post a few articles, tweets and status updates. Work with someone who understands your business goals first and then helps you identify and possibly augment the use of these tools to help you move toward and more importantly, measure your success.
What overwhelm are you feeling right now in using social media to achieve your business goals?