St Louis Web Marketing

Posts Tagged ‘blogging’

Businesses are shifting their budgets and strategies from traditional advertising and jumping on the Social Media bandwagon. Can you blame them? This is where the industry is headed and where money is being made. However, just because it is the trend, it doesn’t mean that you are prepared to jump on quite yet. Here is a checklist to help you decide if you are ready to be participating in social media:

• Do you know what you want from social media? Are you looking for more leads, traffic, conversions, or brand awareness?  Are you trying to build a better relationship with current customers or reach a new market? The sooner you understand what you want to achieve from using social media, the sooner you will be able to build a better social media strategy.  Just like your mother said “if everyone else was jumping off a bridge, would you jump too”?  You should know your reasons and goals for social media before you “jump off the bridge”.
• What kind of social media do you have in mind? People just assume that social media is Facebook and Twitter. Those are two great social media sites that can help out your business, but don’t forget about blog rolls, media sharing sites like YouTube and Flickr, and directory sites. Social media is a large pond, so you must be prepared to jump all in and not just wet your toes.
• How will you encourage participation? Talking to a wall isn’t exactly entertaining or useful whatsoever. If you are using social media, but do not have a strategy for encouraging participation, that is basically what you are doing. The wonderful thing about social media is that it allows interactions and a casual interface for conversation about your brand. You must embrace this gift or social media is pretty pointless for your business.
• Do you have the resources to maintain your accounts? Social media can be very time consuming and will absorb many of your resources. You should have a person, team, or company designated to maintain your social media accounts.  They should be there to post real time updates and interact with your followers.  With out the proper resources you may find yourself overwhelmed or dragging behind in your campaign.

So you are ready to jump on the band wagon as well and begin your social media campaign. Check out The Net Impact for assistance in your social media efforts.