Prepare to have your mind blown: not all organizations need a social media presence.
While all the hype surrounding social media makes it seem like your business will dematerialize if you don’t immediately sign up for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, the truth is many enterprises would be wise to forgo creating a presence across the socials.
This is especially true for smaller businesses that might not have the time or manpower to handle the upkeep and maintenance that social media platforms require. If you are on the fence about whether or not social media is right for you, consider these reasons why your resources might be better spent elsewhere:
- You don’t have the resources. Do you actually have the resources to invest in social media? Small business owners often see the value in writing a weekly blog post, but when push comes to shove, the time and writing chops necessary to produce engaging content are often prohibitive. Social media can be a great marketing tool, but only if you have the time and energy to invest in producing regular, original posts and researching and sharing interesting, relevant content.
Not sure? At the most fundamental level, you’ll need to invest at least an hour a day in some form of social media activity to keep your channels current. If you’re already swamped with customers and your phone won’t stop ringing, your 60-hour workweek can balloon to 70 before you know it. Find the time, hire someone to do it for you, or wait until you have the resources. A poorly maintained social media account is actually more harmful to your brand than no social media account.
- Your offerings aren’t “social-friendly.” If you’re a mental health care provider, for example, you may want to consider staying away from social media. People suffering from personally embarrassing conditions may want their health care providers to be accessible, but they probably aren’t going to be sharing your content on social media.
Have you noticed Twitter and Facebook are not teeming with proctologists wanting to share their work? Yeah. There’s a reason for that.
- You’re just not comfortable with it. Speaking of discomfort … many small business owners servicing local markets feel most comfortable when they are in front of their clients or customers. For these folks, social sharing is not nearly as valuable as face-to-face interaction. A local community event, for example, could yield a hundred new contacts for a small business owner over a weekend, while a weekend on Facebook would never achieve these kinds of results.
On the other hand, some business owners simply aren’t comfortable with the idea of posting online or showcasing their products or services in a social venue. That’s OK! Social media isn’t for everybody, and if you’re suspicious of the idea or don’t trust the platforms, it’s better to wait until your ready than feel forced into making a decision that makes you uncomfortable.
While social media is all the rage, it still might not be a good fit for your business. If your audience is not online, you don’t have the resources, or you can score more points by interacting with clients in person, social media might be better left—at least for now—in the idea pile.
[Source:- Socialmediatoday]
