So what’s the lesson here?
The lesson here is that before deciding if social media is going to
work for you, and telling any company that you are working with that
you want your site/blog/whatever tied into it, do some research. Here
are a few things to do first:
- Define your customer – industry, age, geographic area, etc.
- Find out where your customers “live.” Are they online? Do they go
to tradeshows or read magazines? Do they subscribe to eNewsletters? Do
they use Twitter?
- Look at the demographics of the potential social networks you might
get involved in. At a minimum, look at Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Do those demographics meet those of your potential clients?
- Find out if there are niche social networks that your clients frequent, including Google and Yahoo groups.
Once you know if you should even get into social media, and which sites to spend time on, it’s strategy time.
Time vs. Money
Running a small business means that I have to be careful how to
spend my money. That means if I can do something that takes time rather
than money I’ll do it. And that’s why I love social media. Who needs
sleep? Not me. I have a coffee IV running 24×7. But seriously, if you
don’t have the time or inclination to find out the above list of items
before creating a social media strategy, which I would offer should be
part of every business strategy, then be prepared to pay for it. The
choice is yours: spend time or spend money.
Source via The Non Marketer
