A case for going social

No matter where you are at in your thinking about social media, if you’re not at least considering going social, you’re missing out on a lot of marketing opportunity. That doesn’t mean you have to or should go social tomorrow, but at some point you will or you’ll pay the price through missed opportunity. Here are three reasons to go social:

1. People, a lot of people, spend their time, a lot of time, there. Whether you like it or not, your company’s messages are competing with the millions of messages customers see every day, even if those messages aren’t from your competitors. Their attention is simply drawn to messages that resonate with them personally and professionally. According to a Pew Research Center study, 67% of American Internet users are on Facebook. And according to a Nielsen report, American Internet users spend more time on Facebook than any other Internet brand. Being there just makes sense if you can find a way.
2. Social media is becoming a primary communication medium. People use their Facebook accounts and LinkedIn accounts as some old-school executives would use their rolodexes. And in some cases people only communicate via Facebook. It has even replaced email for some people. That means it’s stealing eyeballs from your email marketing campaigns – not in huge quantities right now, but it’s going to get larger. Being there will help you offset some of that loss. And your organization will learn how to use social media effectively as it continues to grow.
3. If there is one department in your organization that you don’t want to become stagnant or behind the times, it’s your marketing department. Marketing has and always will be the place where you find vision into the future. Sure, part of it is because you have so many creative types there who aren’t working nose to the grindstone on some spreadsheet. But it’s mostly because they have to anticipate customer trends before they hit or they can expect a call from the c-suite asking them why customers are going to the competitor more often than their organization. They have to be ahead of the times, constantly trying to find the next big thing. Social media is where they’re going to find it today. It’s where your customers are and, if nothing else, it’s a place to listen to what they have to say about you. And they’ll say a lot once you put the page up. That’s a guarantee.

These are just a few reasons to go social. There are many more. But there are reasons not to go social as well. I'll share those in tomorrow's post. Jakel Communications can help you navigate the social media world. Contact us today!