If you’re skeptical about Social Media, you aren’t the only one. Here are some of the common knee-jerk reactions I’ve heard.
1. It’s a big waste of my employees’ time.
Well, if marketing is a waste of your employees’ time, perhaps so. Otherwise, building brand recognition and developing relationships in the new peer-to-peer Social Media world, is about as wise a thing as you can do.
2. How can I ever control what people inside and outside my business are saying about my company.
You’re right, you can’t. In fact you never could. So this presses the point about your business, your employees, your clients, your relationships, and trust. It’s time to work it.
3. The cost is prohibitive.
Marketing isn’t cheap and never has been. The measurable results are, in the end, what its all about. While the Social Media tools are free or inexpensive, it sometimes takes outside help to use them effectively.
4. It might damage my company’s reputation.
Yes, it may. It may also improve it. It’s all about what your company is doing to garner trust and how deserving it is of quality relationships and appurtenant word of mouth.
5. We don’t have time for anything else.
Start slowly and build from there. See what others are doing and what works for them. This is not a one size fits all proposition.
6. Our customers/clients don’t care about or participate in Social Media.
I don’t think that’s true. It is likely that you don’t yet know where and how to listen to the Social Media conversations already taking place. That’s the best place to start frankly. For example, go to Twitter and follow discussions about your company or industry.
7. The results can’t be measured.
Yes, they can. First, have clear goals and objectives in mind at the outset. Include traditional measure like unique and repeat traffic and its sources, time spent, in addition to followers, fans, comments and sentiment. Determine how these measures correlate with your goals. Choose paid or free, individual or suite-based monitoring and measurement tools.