How to Decide if Social Media is Right for You

June 9, 2010 by Jeune Ortiz

There is an ongoing debate in one of my networks on LinkedIn about whether or not social media is right for every business. The debate has been raging for well over three months and yet they’re no closer to a solution than when they started. Essentially, 50% say yes and the other 50% say no.

With a split like that, clearly the only way to determine if social media is right for you is to decide for yourself. And keep in mind, just because your competitor is using one social media network, it doesn’t automatically mean it will be the right one for you and here’s why…

Every business is different, and when it comes to social media the differences are magnified a hundred fold because now your business is becoming a personality… more human by way of the actual human behind your social media contributions.

Five Important Factors

Before diving into social media you need to:

Know Your Audience - Look at your demographics/sociographics and see which social network they align most closely with. Depending on their average age and sex you may find that they’re not using social media.

Research the Many Social Networks Available – There are hundreds of social media network sites besides Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Take some time to discover the options and find a network what works best for you.

Have Time Availability – Social media is a time commitment. If you’re a one-person shop you may not have time to do social media well enough to see any results. On the other hand, if you have a staff member who can dedicate themselves to the task, social media becomes a much lighter commitment.

Develop Marketing and Tracking -  Because of the intense time commitment, you’ll want to make sure that social media is delivering a return on investment. You need to have a hook (webinar, free application, free whitepaper, etc.), and you need to track your results. Before you dive into social media, work to build your back-end marketing and tracking strategy first, so the only thing you need to do is spread the word and drive the traffic.

Have a Crisis Plan – With social media, your company’s soft underbelly will be exposed. Make sure that if you encounter negative comments that you and your staff know how to handle those situations.

If any of the five items above make you blanch, then you may not be ready to take on social media. But to be really sure, you can open a personal account on the network of your choosing and get your feet wet. This is a great way to test the waters and find out if you have what it takes to commit to the social media lifestyle.

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