Social Media: NOT Sold In Stores

Social media presents a conundrum for many companies for one simple reason: you can’t buy it.

You would think the availability of “free” social media tools would be an attraction to organizations.  Instead, it has caused an unusual push-back from those who are used to spending money to get what they want. Why? Perceived value. 

Many businesspeople have an ingrained concept that if they aren’t paying for something, then it can’t be worthwhile.  The idea that you can engage, survey, monitor, talk to, or inform customers without spending thousands of dollars on marketing campaigns, micro-sites, ad agencies, news monitoring services or focus groups doesn’t make any sense to them.  

It makes no difference if Google Alerts can do the same thing as most fee-based news monitoring services, or if WordPress can deliver a better blog template and interactivity for free than most customized blog pages that don’t have the same capabilities or customization options. Many still want to pay cold, hard cash to feel like they are getting a quality product in return, or, possibly, to show the need for their continuing budgets to supervisors.

To compound the problem, there is no shortage of companies out there looking to charge you top dollar for a sub-par product just to capitalize on the hype social media is receiving today. In the past, companies would sell e-mail lists or direct mail lists, now they are selling followers. The problem is, those followers may not be your audience, and more importantly, they don’t want to be sold to.

More than likely, your audience has probably already assembled somewhere online and the good news is that it doesn’t cost anything more than a quick search to find out where they are. A search of LinkedIn Groups, Facebook fan pages, message boards, or popular blogs relating to your product or service will undoubtedly return places where your audience is already congregating.

You don’t have to buy 100,000 names and blast an obnoxious e-mail to them, or buy 20,000 Twitter followers, you just have to go to where your customers already are and become a valuable, contributing member of the community. Don’t sell to them, don’t try to trick them, and don’t expect it to be easy.

Sound too good to be true? It is. Just because you are saving thousands of dollars doesn’t mean you don’t have to put in the time, effort and, most importantly, thought, to make it work. The tools are free - success requires smart interaction and ideas.

At Maples, we tell all our clients here in Orange County and elsewhere the same thing - you have to be willing to put in the time and energy if you want results. There aren’t any shortcuts and one size does not fit all, but if you do it right, you can save money while at the same time build your business and your brand.

(Photo courtesy of: AMagill)

Tags: brand, free, maples, public relations, social media, WordPress