When diving into the sometimes turbulent waters of social media, as a business, it is important to think about what to do after you created all of your bright, new, branded channels. Hopefully you have a strategy, something we have already addressed in the past, and you have taken the time to make sure that each outlet has been customized in design (as much as allowed depending on the actual tool) to integrate with the over look and feel of your brand, but beyond that once your presence is out there and the message is sent you need to consider this thought: What you are doing is essentially sending out a massive invitation.
You are inviting prospective and current clients to engage in a dialogue with you. You are opening your doors and asking them to come in, sit down, kick up their feet and talk, to discuss and to ask questions, to share their opinion and brainstorm some ideas. More and more today it is increasingly obvious that businesses and consumers desire these discussions, they want and need to feel like they are being heard, that they influence brands and change services to better meet their needs. The issue becomes, when they speak, when they ask, when they share their thoughts, what do they hear back?
The worst possible result is they are met with complete silence. You wouldn't stay long in a conversation where it appears that you are being completely ignored in person, would you? In fact you may think the other person rude, arrogant, uncaring or simply apathetic to your opinions and thoughts. Your response would probably be to walk away, and that is exactly what people will do when they accept your invitation to enagage with your company and brand through social media, put their thoughts out there and get no response back when they do. The slogan "Set It and Forget It!" may work for Ron Popeil's Showtime Rotisserie but it is a terrible strategy when it comes to your company's social media strategies.
This thought however leads to the tension that many small to mid-sized business feel when they contemplate jumping in with both feet to tools like Facebook, Twitter, blogging, and so on. Who will be in charge of it? Who has the time to make sure that everyday the sites are checked for questions and comments? Who can put on ANOTHER hat and spend the time to ensure that new ideas and relevant information is being posted so people can chew on them, and then engage with them? Most companies that are our clients are already stretched thin in terms of resources and employee bandwidth, and they certainly can't afford to pay someone full time to JUST monitor and develop their social media efforts.
That's where Xapsis Integrated Marketing is seeing a shift in thought in our clients. Considering that 5-7 years ago the majority of people that wanted to engage in web based marketing and development wanted to have firms like Xapsis set everything up and then allow them to administrate all of the ongoing upkeep, changes and refreshing of information independent of outside assistance, NOW clients are increasingly wanting ongoing help to take care of these things on a DAILY basis. The key is that social media must become a daily activity to become optimally effective, keeping the conversations fresh, interactive and responsive.
Don't let the consistently interactive nature of social media keep your business from diving in, just make sure to partner with the correct people or companies that will keep your efforts fresh and engaging so your current and future clients feel like they are actually being heard and responded to. The rewards can be enormous, and in this day and age your web marketing footprint requires it! Don't fall into the "Set it and forget it" trap, ask Xapsis today about the social media administration programs we have and we'll help you "Create It and Cultivate It!" (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)
From where you are to where you want to be,
Doug
