Marketing is always difficult. Often, you need to experiment with a variety of approaches. And, of course, you need to measure things.
Obvious, huh?
Yet, when it comes to using social media like Twitter, Facebook and so on, it seems that many small businesses forgot to measure things.
Then again, if you read much of the how-to's on the topic, it does seem that social media is an elixir; that is, there is some type of magic that will create more business.
But, when I talk to business owners about the success of their social media, things get a bit fuzzy. Often, there are few tangible examples.
Now, I'm not implying that social media is worthless. Like any medium, there are benefits. However, it's important to keep things in perspective and not get sucked into the media hype.
After all, even though social media is free, there is still a huge cost: your time.
So, as much as possible, try to measure the results from your social media efforts. Actually, this may be as simple as talking to your customers or doing a simple survey. Or, you might want to try using web analytics. A good resource for this is the following book: Web Analytics: An Hour a Day
Hey, we measure other types of marketing. Why not social media?
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
Why do we have a weak dollar?
Holiday hiring slow for retailers
Closing Bell: What sell-off? (AIG, ABK, EPR, MBI, JAVA, ORCL, ERTS)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-09-2009 @ 5:33PM
Chris said...
I think that twitter is the best way for business to get there word out, compared to myspace or facebook.
It's great to keep things simple, which is what twitter does. It's not only free but also keeps things straight to the point.
Your time is valuable but as small-large business owner you need to ensure you are first hand involved with your clients or customers and the messages they receive.
Making a post or two a day on twitter takes literally 5 seconds. That is what is great about it, its does not take any time and its free.
What could be better?
Follow me on twitter : )
http://twitter.com/gotoguydotcom
2-08-2009 @ 10:51PM
Ted McElvoy said...
social media is about 2 things:
1) sex
2) marketing yourself
2-09-2009 @ 1:32PM
Lynn10240 said...
Social media has many factors to measure. Approach and manners play a huge role.
When you meet people at a gathering for the first time, you really shouldn't sell products or services until your potential prospects/friends to get to know and even trust you.
Whether or not any ad medium works depends on how well it is perceived.
2-09-2009 @ 2:25PM
MSEntrp said...
As I discuss in my blog: http://www.hitsthatclick.com/st.louis/tag/social-media/
Social Networking is what is hot right now. The difference is that it has staying power.
Just like some doubted the viability of the phone for business (in the 1930s), those that don't get on the Social Media bandwagon will be left behind.
It's where our customers are....shouldn't we be there too?
2-09-2009 @ 5:48PM
Billy Lee said...
We have launched a new web site that is very entertaining to the serious minded, and may not be so entertaining to the kiddie corner. We give people a chance to show case their talent online, on a chance discovery!. We have received hundreds of emails asking us where is all of our members?. Well were not a singles site, or dating site, this makes it hard to understand to some people, because a lot of the emails we get, are from kids. But there seems to be more and more older people likely our site, because of what we are about. There is a lot of our members that want us to work for them in private, without showing their woek online, and that's cool with us. Please drop by and check us out. The links that may interest you is our Actor Actresses Link, The Your Story Page, Pet Page, and the stories from inmates page. Thanks Lee..
http://www.artistworldentertainmentgroup.com
2-09-2009 @ 7:28PM
telecomventures said...
No serious entrepreneur would ever say there is a downside to being in the social media click. Social media networking is "kind-a-sort-a" the Internet enabled mobile phone in a world of rotary telephone landlines. If you like being in a "fix" location where you can only wait for people to reach you -then social media is really not for you! ...On the other hand, if you are excited about promoting yourself or something of importance, if you are a social-centric evangelist with an outreach to touch basis with people who may otherwise in reality be looking for you, if you consider yourself to be a kind-a-sort-a "mission critical" person ...if you believe your mission is possible and within your grasp -then, believe me only social media networking is the one solution that can promote anything from sex to self-promotion. SocialMediaClick.com can take you there.
2-27-2009 @ 11:56AM
Iron Shirt Media said...
Saying you have to "measure social media response" is important however it's critical to set real goals for your social media efforts.
Social media sites can be a time killer if they are used without a strategic focus. I consult with Small businesses on how to get real ROI out of the web and I have found in 10 years most small biz owners have a "ready, fire, aim" strategic approach to the Internet because they really don't have a good handle on how it helps their business.
Social Media is the same.
Use the cocktail party perspective:
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc...all of these sites are a giant cocktai party like swarm of people talking. you wouldn't go to a cocktail party and just start asking people to buy from you.
You network, build connections, collect customer feedback and followup via direct messaging to the new contacts that are open to it. This is how I get my clients real results out of social media.
Like what you just read? let me know twitter: @IronShirtMedia
Want to read more?
web: http://www.ironshirtink.com
blog: http://ironshirtink.wordpress.com