Does every business need social media? Social media are so appealing to the human psyche, with the level of interaction that they can bring, there many who suggest that it is now a business necessity too. But it is important to remember that media are not an end in themselves, but are merely a channel. This post reviews some of the myths surrounding social media for business.
Why Social Media Are Not a Strategy
Posted by
xcelbusiness under Social Media
From http://bloggertone.com 4593 days ago
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Comments
4593 days ago
I know of many local businesses that don't have any online presence at all - they may be listed by a few idiotic 3rd party "review directories", but they have no presence of their own.
Why doesn't it matter even in the slightest - because they're strong businesses everyone in the area already knows - they have earned true word of mouth buzz.
Would a website, location based gimmicks, or smart-phone coupons help them - no. They have lines at the door from the locals who actually really DO appreciate them.
Duncan
4593 days ago
4593 days ago
My point is that the world that we live in, and how we do now do business is changing and this change is accelerating. While technology is facilitating this change, it is ultimately been driven by people (our buyers). We live in a constant state of flux, where speed and the ability to adapt are becoming the key drivers of our success. Some industries have experienced this in an almost brutal way and we are all now experienced this to a greater or lesser extent.
This change is continuing to create massive and multiple opportunities for those that have embraced it and the consequences of fighting it have so far proven detrimental to those who decided to do so. So do businesses have a choice as to whether or not they engage with social media? Perhaps! Do businesses have a choice as to whether or not they engage with the people that reside in those social media? That answer I’m a little more convinced of.
You asked “what are social media?” and stated the answer is partly in the question. But for me the real reason why social media are not a strategy lies in how we define social media. In my opinion the social media phenomimum has much less to do with the media or the networks and much more to do with the millions of people who now inhabit the technologies. Rightly or wrongly, social media are impacting more and more on people’s lives and it’s in this context that businesses need to ask themselves, should we be using social media?
4593 days ago
My concern is that the markets have changed utterly for some businesses and they will have to go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate what they are doing. They will have to review every area of the business, from the products or services that they offer, to their margins, to their staffing, and in some cases their production and delivery. There is a business cycle and social media cannot prevent or cure obsolescence. Social media can’t fix broken business models. But social media are being sold by some “gurus” as a panacea to businesses which are desperate to survive. There is also a need to target stakeholders. Some media are better for a particular business than others. And, of course opening, for example, a twitter account and then neglecting it is much worse that not having a twitter account at all. Not all business owners will “get” social media, and using it badly can also be damaging.
I think that businesses that get back to basics and integrate social media into a viable business and marketing plan will survive and thrive. Social Media cannot fix a broken business model, any more than a plaster cast can fix a headache.
Thanks Niall, for a great addition to my post. I actually agree with all you say! I think we are both right :)