Yes, I said it, Social Media is NOT Free!

I have said in the past that Social Media is “Free Advertising.”  While the many platforms that comprise a social media arena may be free to use, it still takes time and engagement to make it work for you.  The time involved in crafting and implementing a social media campaign does divert resources from other things.  Resources such as time, talent & technology.  One needs to weigh the costs in these areas, versus using those resources or other aspects of your business.  In order to show a good “return-on-investment”, ROI, it needs to pull its own weight.  The focus of most social media campaigns is to generate somewhat intangible results, including word-of-mouth, “Buzz”, “Customer Engagement.”  The bottom line is that these intangibles are NOT money.  Only money is money. Tracking the metrics of a social media campaign is a tricky prospect.

Since most social media campaigns are multi-pronged and use multiple platforms, it is difficult to sort out what is working and what is not and make any needed adjustments.  This is where experience comes in.  An experienced social media manager/consultant is able to sort through the chaff and noise in the field and find those platforms, venues and messages that will work for your situation.  There truly is no “one-side-fits-all” solution.  Each effort must be carefully planned, researched and tailored to reach the intended target audience.  This is where the social media manager earned their keep.  They should invest a significant amount of time behind-the-scenes researching you, your product, your company, and maybe most importantly, your competition.

Who are the actual consumers of social media?

According to data presented at Buzz2010, from Charlene Li: ( http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2010/08/30/build-your-social-community-with-passive-users/ ), the largest groups by far are sharers and watchers. These are people participating in social media by reading, watching and learning, who may or may not share a link with someone else but who you are reaching nonetheless but will NEVER hear from. They are the folks, reading this discussion right now, who never dare to chime in. And though they may not chime in, they could be linking someone else to your content or they could be gaining trust or a favorable impression of you, enough to check out your blog or business and enough to pass on your information to a friend, colleague or family member, should they need that kind of expertise.  Your social media efforts may be gaining huge traction with this “under the radar” audience and there’s really no reliable way to measure that.  Since it’s not in their nature to directly respond, there is no way to “tag” what they saw and identify their demographics.  There is usually no direct cause-effect relationship. It’s maddening, at least for old-school types who don’t understand the dynamics of social media and the Internet.

Part of the problem I see is that if you come into the realm of social media with expectations of what you will or won’t get out of it — you’ve already failed. First and foremost, social media is about the SOCIAL aspect. It’s an opportunity to get to know people, share your expertise, help each other out and learn something new. It’s also an amazing opportunity for you to control you brand’s image while staying in touch with the people who make your company a success. Allowing you to address issues or concerns that your client’s may have, while educating them on your business or product and helping them solve a problem they may have. It’s the ultimate in customer service — when done right.