Everyone and their dog (literally) seems to be on social media today. You might be asking yourself if it’s beneficial for your company to have a social media presence. The answer to that is – it depends. For a lot of business owners social media may just seem like a mundane task to add to your already long list of things that need to be done for your business. Here are a few tips you can use to decide if you should (or shouldn’t) make implementing a social media presence a priority for your business
1. Does your company have the resources & knowledge it takes to run a social media page?
If not, don’t stress it. Having a social media presence is not going to make or break your companies online image. In fact, having a bad social media presence may even be worse than not having one at all. If a customer clicks a link on your website to your Facebook page, they’re probably expecting to find some good content there, like pictures, videos, news, etc. They’ll be disappointed if all they find is three posts from 2 years ago that aren’t even relevant anymore.
If you decide not to run a social media it’s important that you at least monitor your brands online image. People could be talking about your brand online whether or not you have a presence online. It’s easy to keep track of when your brand is mentioned online using free services like Google Alerts or Mention. These services allow you to keep track of what people are saying about your brand, and can give you the chance to respond appropriately.
2. Is your target audience on social media?
If not, using social media may just be a waste of time.
If so, take a look at what platforms your audience is using. Then you only need to focus on those platforms, which can help narrow down the amount of work needed to run your social media page. If your target audience mostly uses Facebook don’t worry about running an Instagram page, or a Twitter account.
If your target audience is present & active on social media – it can be a good way to engage with your target audience. Most social media users log in to their accounts at least once a day. Sharing entertaining, relevant, and informative content will keep your followers excited to see your brand on their social media- and they even may keep your brand at the top of their mind the next time they are looking to purchase a product or service that your company offers.
3. Are your competitors using social media?
If your competitors are active on social media, you could be missing out by not having a social media presence. Good chances are that there is a reason your competition is using social media, so maybe your company should too.
4. Does your company have a way to be contacted online?
It’s important that your customers, and potential customers, have at least some sort of way to get in touch with your company online. If your company has a website with an online contact form that may be all you need. But social media is also a great way for people to be able to reach out to your company with questions, comments, concerns. It can even be a great way to generate leads online.
If your company does not choose to use social media, at the very least make sure people have a way to quickly get in touch online. A contact form on your website is a great way for people to be able to reach out quickly.
