Staci J. Shelton

Where you share your message is just as important, if not more than the message itself.

I often talk to skeptical people who want to know what Social Media can do for them. After a big smile, I have plenty to say.

Recently I was speaking with a new client about his business.  He had been using traditional marketing techniques to attract customers to his business.  Newspaper ads and flyers and word of mouth were his primary forms of advertising.

A newspaper ad can cost anywhere from $100 to $1000 monthly depending on the type, size, location and frequency of runs.  In short, they can be costly.

After running some ads for several months, he got about 3 “hits”, meaning clients walking into his business as a result of people having seen the ads. Not a very good return on the investment of newpaper advertising.  After a friend told him to place an ad on Craig’s List, his return increased tenfold, literally.  After posting a free ad on Craig’s List, he got about 30 responses.  A much better return, I think anyone would agree.

Often people who are used to traditional marketing are unsure about this “new” and “untested” medium.  There’s not a lot of measurement, and it hasn’t been around long enough for people to feel completely comfortable that the tools will absolutely meet goals for customers, traffic, and ultimately, income.  My answer to that is to recount every bad commercial ever made,  which cost companies millions of dollars to produce,  and still had poor results.

But the truth is, newspapers and even television commercials are not as effective today as Social Media. Newspaper readership is at an all time low.  People aren’t seeing your ads there, because they aren’t looking to the local newspaper or television station to get news and information.  People are mobile.   TiVo had DVR technology has made watching commercials almost non-existent.  Most people are now reading the news online or on their Blackberrys,  iPhones or RSS Readers.

No advertising  is ever a guaranteed success.  The best we can promise as consultantsis reasonably similar results with the same activities or creative ideas.  The truth is, however, that no advertising is any good, if no one is hearing your message.

With that being said, I think there are few reasons any business needs to consider at least trying Social Media.

1) Social Media Is Where The People Are

Years ago, Thursday Night TV on NBC was THE place to be.  It was prime advertising real estate.  Now, your customers, friends and their potential customers using Social Media Platforms every day.  There are over 500 million people on Facebook and over 10 million people  using Twitter and these numbers are growing…daily.  People all over the world are using Social Media.  If you already own a business, there’s a very good chance that a large population of your customers are already using these services and you didn’t even know it.   And, as for everyone else there, well, that’s several million potential customers (give or take a few hundred million) who haven’t yet heard about YOU.

With those figures alone, the numbers are on your side.

2) People Are Making Connections On Social Media

Social Media is about connecting.  People are connecting all over the place.  People are connecting with people in different parts of the world, within industries, across industries.  Tribes are forming.  People are finding like minded individuals and using Social Media to exchange information, insights, wisdom, inspiration and ideas.   On twitter alone, there are on average nearly 2 million “tweets” or communications per day.   People are talking.  People are sharing.  If you are able to connect well with your audience using Social Media, those people will be sharing your information and talking about you, which leads me to my next point.

3) Social Media Is Viral

Not only are people using Social Media…as I said a little earlier, they’re talking. Messages spread very quickly.

Social media is VIRAL.

People can have up to 5000 friends on Facebook (with no limits in place for the number of fans one can have for businesses).  There are no limits at the time for the number of followers someone can have on Twitter.  That’s a lot of people potentially hearing your message.  If your message is then shared with even a few of those people, and they share your message, your reach has now been expanded potentially by the number of people in each of these networks!

In the 70’s there was a Faberge Shampoo Commercial, which demonstrates greatly the power of  a shared message.  Here’s the commercial for you to consider.

In the commercial, you tell a friend, then they tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on.  Well in Social Media, you tell 1000 friends, and they tell 1000 friends, and so on, and so on!  Your message now has gone viral, most likely around the world.  This is one of the main reasons I strongly suggest in my post 5 Essential Tools To Build A Great Presence Using Social Media that every business have some sort of website or blog.

Once people start spreading your message, even if your business is more “local”, if you have a website,  there’s a place for them to get to know your business and what you have to offer.  Even if your audience doesn’t reside in your city, there’s a great chance, given the number of people networking and communicating, that they know at least one person who does.  Not to mention the mobility of our communities and how often people travel or relocate.  You’ve now entered into a relationship and should they ever be near you, your company is already established as a resource.

4) Social Media Tools Are Largely FREE

Facebook, Twitter and MySpace don’t cost the end user anything to use.  They all offer funtionality that allow you to share content with a broad audience.  Aside from your time, the tools cost you nothing to use.

You may need a little coaching or help from a consultant on the best way to utilize the tools, but overall, hiring a consultant to help you with Social Media is a much better value with a greater return than spending thousands of dollars on newspaper ads that no one may ever see.  I can definitely help you with that!  Make your communications count by going to where you’ll get the “most bang for your buck”.