You would think that the answer to the above question is easy– yes or no. But like many things in the technology world it’s just not that simple. There are many benefits to adopting a social media strategy and we highly recommend our clients to adopt social media as part of their overall internet marketing efforts. But it does require some effort to learn basic principles and the investment of some time to become active in the social spaces. However, if you think the extent of your social media strategy is to start a Facebook Fan Page and/or Twitter account and let the rest take care of itself with no further effort on your part, then no, it isn’t advisable and could even do your business some harm.
Reasons Why to Start a Social Media Strategy
These days social media should be thought of as an essential part of your marketing strategy. There’s just no ignoring the massive amount of people using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or the hundreds or even thousands of active social media spaces available. This is a large audience for any business to ignore. If you are, your competitor probably isn't.
Search Engines have begun to place more emphasis on social media presence. The more Facebook Shares, Re-tweets, Diggs, status updates, Google +1’s and reviews about you or your company are becoming more influential in your overall website page rank. You could see your site being returned higher in the search results for your targeted keywords if you are popular in the social media spaces. The more popular you are in the social spaces the more important the search engines view your website.
When Should You Not Start a Social Media Strategy
As I mentioned in the first paragraph, if all you intend to do is start a Facebook Page and Twitter account and expect the followers to roll in you are mistaken. Social Media is designed for individuals to get involved and so it does take time and energy. It is important to share information, provide status updates and engage others in conversation. If your Facebook Page wall does not contain anything valuable or you're Twitter page is bare those that do come across you on Facebook or Twitter are going to notice the inactivity or quite frankly, neglect. I equate it to the traditional store on the street. If a passer-by glances through the window and sees dusty shelves and outdated products they probably will not come in. The same thing goes for your social media presence. If your Facebook Page is unused and there’s nothing valuable, visitors could see this as a poor reflection of your business and it’s better to simply not have one. If you are taking the time to provide valuable information and you are active in the social media communities you have a higher chance of others taking part, reaching a broader audience, building trust and eventually reaching some new customers.
What Does it Take to Start
For a small business it only takes a few hours to learn some of the basic principles of how to properly adopt a social media strategy. There are dos and dont's, especially for a business but it’s not hard to understand, nor is it very time consuming to learn. For example, one of the biggest mistakes small businesses make with social media is overt advertising. Social Media is about sharing information and providing valuable content, not overt advertising.
At IMI Software we always recommend and advise our clients to adopt a social media strategy. For a small business new to social media we advise they start out in a few places. The idea is not to get overwhelmed. Start small and grow from there. To get started create a Facebook Business Page and a Twitter account. If you have videos then a creating a YouTube channel is a great idea. Video is becoming more and more important in social media marketing.
Local online advertising is very powerful as well. It’s advisable to create a Google Profile and make sure your business is present in Google, Bing and Yahoo Places. This will help your business to be found in local searches. We also advise creating a profile with a few local social directories such as Yelp, MerchantCircle and Manta. These are very powerful and popular city guides and business directories that individuals use to search for businesses. Users can leave ratings and reviews and share profiles throughout other social spaces. There are many more of these directories and social media sites where you could create a presence but start with a few and expand from there. You could always decide to increase your social media strategy at any time.
The point here is to get started and most importantly, be active. Share information on Facebook, Tweet, respond to reviews left on Yelp, etc. One aspect of social media that I did not mention yet is blogging. Bogs are one of the most important aspects of social media. Start a blog and share it throughout your social networks.
Conclusion
You should be thinking about social media and internet marketing in general as an essential component to your overall marketing strategy. Individuals are spending more and more time online and using search engines, blogs, social networking sites, local business directories, online city guides and more to search for information. Whether they are looking to buy a house, rent a car, buy a new pair of sneakers, decide on where to go to dinner, we are going online to research and potentially make a decision. Statistics show that traditional marketing is becoming less effective and for a business to have an effective marketing strategy today, internet marketing is an essential component.
About IMI Software, Inc.
IMI Software, Inc. is a Web Design and Development and Internet Marketing Company providing quality web solutions to small, medium and large businesses, Not-For-Profits and Corporations throughout New York, Queens and Long Island. We provide a diverse array of services designed to meet the specific needs of your business. We specialize in website design and development, search engine optimization, social media integration, internet marketing, ecommerce solutions, intranet and extranet development, print marketing services as well as SEO and social media consulting and training.
We are a DotNetNuke Certified Partner and are experts in the design and development of database driven web applications using the DotNetNuke® web application framework and content management system.
Our web design and development services provide businesses of all types and sizes a powerful and flexible, yet affordable web solution hosted in the Cloud. Whether you are a small, medium, or large business, a corporation, or a not-for-profit, we provide more than just a website; but a comprehensive website solution using modern web standards and cutting edge technology providing the necessary components to enhance and expand your online presence.