Unless you live in a convent in outer Mongolia, social media has taken over how we communicate now and in the future. In fact even the Pope has a Twitter account and the Vatican has an official Facebook Page.
85% of American adults are online and 72% of them use social according to PEW Research. Boomers who control 70% of U.S. spending, increased their social usage 42% in one year. More than half of the U.S. mobile population is using their mobile devices to engage on social media sites.
According to social media giant Gary Vaynerchuk, “If you ignore social media or spend little time with it in 2014, it will set you up for trouble later as proliferating social media platforms further disrupt the already massively changed advertising and media landscape.”
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You can no longer disregard the numbers
· With over 1 billion people world wide on Facebook, 751 million people access Facebook through their mobile devices
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· Twitter has 500 million total users and Twitters fastest growing age demographic is 55-64
· 343 million active users on Google+ and with the interface with You Tube, Google places and Instagram you can no longer ignore this platform. You Tube has over 1 billion unique monthly visitors!
· 259 million LinkedIn users, 84 million in the U.S. and 40% check LinkedIn daily
Yet with these statistics many small companies are still resistant to social media I believe for the following reasons;
1. They don’t understand it and thinks it is just for kids
2. They don’t want one more thing on their already overloaded plate
3. They see no ROI for potential time and money spent
Where do you begin?
1. Get some help by hiring a social media strategist and create a strategy for your business before you implement any tactics which is the usual mistake most small business owners make. It’s like throwing a piece of spaghetti against the wall hoping it will stick. Learn the characteristics of great content!
2. Commit yourself or a staff member to a specific amount of time daily to your new social media strategy. Consistency over time is how you get noticed in social channels. Don’t expect an immediate ROI on your efforts until you have built a following. If you outsource to an employee or company, be sure they understand “your voice” and communicate according to your strategy and goals.
3. Involve other people in your company and train them to be your brand advocates.
4. Know how you will measure your results. You can incorporate paid programs that will track your metrics as well as noticing the growth of followers and engagement levels.
The key to developing a social media strategy is to actually create a strategy!
The skill set for marketing our businesses has changed and to be successful in today’s world requires us to learn new skills. The challenges may seem overwhelming, but as the saying goes…How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!
JoAnne Funch is owner of Marketing Dish, a veteran marketing professional providing strategic marketing consulting to growth oriented business owners who want to gain more visibility. In addition, JoAnne is a social media trainer, she teaches monthly workshops for the University of Minnesota Business and Economic Development Department and other locations. She is the owner of LinkedIn For Business providing training for companies and individuals.
For free marketing tips visit her websites http://www.MarketingDish.com. http://www.LinkedInForBusiness.net Or, connect with JoAnne on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+
