We often encounter entrepreneurs and businessmen who want to try dabbling with social media for their marketing campaigns.
We tell them and make them understand that they'll have to put in a fair amount of work: offer something truly valuable to the market, connect with their target market, aspire to be trusted by their consumers, and make significant, substantive connections with the communities they build.
Their standard reaction is something along the lines of: "Well .. can we count on you to do everything?"
They want to manage their Twitter and Facebook accounts and send updates for them as them. They want us to participate in their discussion forums and write as them. Basically, they want us to do all the work.
This just shows how their meager understanding of social media. Social media ceases to be effective when the "social" part is neglected. It's not just about fresh tools such as Facebook and Twitter. What businessmen and entrepreneurs are now faced with is a completely new way of relating to their consumers.
They want the benefits of Social Media Marketing while taking a completely "hands-off" approach.
Here we'd like to state reasons why we choose not to do it, and why we advise you to not go down this route if you're really serious about generating a likable, trustworthy brand with social media.
1. We're not experts on your field.
We're not in the same field as you, probably because we're not passionate about your area of expertise. It's highly likely that we'll be able to say the right things all the time. We might even unknowingly jeopardize your business prospects.
2. We are not you
Our values and goals may be entirely different compared to yours. Our experience and knowledge may not be sufficient to provide your customers with the leading edge materials that they look for from industry leaders such as yourself.
It takes lots and lots of time to completely get to know your target market and consumer base.
3. It's not sustainable
Well, you could use outsourcing to manage your community and social media. But what happens if that third party fails to follow through and deliver, or, worse, what if they just up and leave? Would you know what to do with your social media accounts and lifestreams?
So here are some suggestions on what you should do instead:
Step 1: Take the time to organize your business.
Before you send out that first marketing campaign, make sure you know everything about your business. Your identity, your target audience, your short-term business objectives, and your long-term business goals, all these you have to fully understand before you even consider business promotion.
* Target Audience – Who do you really want to serve? Pick your target audience out and give them undivided attention.
* Company Values & Identity
* How to Lead Your Team Effectively
* Enriching Your Brand
* Offers – What can you offer the consumers in your target market?
* Sales Funnel
* Lead Creation – How do you plan to convert leads to customers (and profit)? How do you sustain consumer trust?
* Your Goals as a Business – What do you want to accomplish? How much do you want done short-term, medium-term, and long-term?
Step 2. Learn everything you can about Social Media and find out how it can work to your business' advantage.
We recommend you to get feedback regarding your marketing strategies. Here's where we come in! We'll study everything about your business, first: your [identity | background |, your niche market and customers, who you're up against in the market. After that, we'll present you with plans to improve the way your business works.
Step 3. Create a sustainable marketing plan
Now here's where we can really help you. We'll cooperate on an organized plan of action that your team can implement. We'll track the results on a regular basis, and monitor how the plan is holding up with regards to your business goals.
Conclusion
Social Media marketing can be easy, but remember to proceed with caution. You alone can engage with your target audience and consumers. What we'll do is purely guide you regarding the tools you can use to make your business the best it can be, to make consumers see what you really have to offer.
