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Do any of you remember back ten years ago when everyone was trying to migrate their business to the internet? In March of 2000, the Dot-Com Bubble reached its height with the Nasdaq reaching 5132. Just two years later it plummeted to a little over a 1000. It appeared that many investors had jumped the gun when it came to websites. They knew that the technology was good but in the end they invested too much into it way too early. According to recent Newsweek and New York Times articles we may be in a similar position with social networking. Don't get me wrong, social media is great, but if it is not used wisely it can lead to a lot of wasted time and steer your business away from more effective forms of advertising. In this article, I'd like to talk about a few of the opportunities that I see with social media sites, as well as the potential dangers that you may run into.
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Pitfalls
It can waste a lot of time and money! Awhile ago I pulled a few of my managers into my office and told them we needed to update our advertising and start Facebook and Twitter accounts for the company. I have some very tech savvy
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could waste you a lot of time and money.
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managers, so I was incredibly surprised that none of them jumped on board with the idea. Our IT guy in particular was very against it. He told me it would do nothing but take a lot of time from more pressing projects and said, "Who would want to be Facebook friends with a Phonebook?" Since then I've heard about many companies that spend hours every week trying to keep their Twitter and Facebook accounts updated even though they have few followers. Even in cases where the company has tons of followers, that doesn't mean those followers are potential customers. Most Twitter and Facebook accounts follow hundreds, if not thousands, of feeds.
It can serve as a posting ground for angry customers. If you are ever having a ba d day and want to feel better about yourself, go to the Facebook page for Best Buy or Home Depot. Neither one of those companies has poor customer service but their walls are filled with intensely negative customer reviews. View their pages at your own risk. Some of the posts are VERY obscene.
Opportunities
Keep in touch with Current Customers- While it appears that Social Networking isn't a good way to find new customers, I think it has potential if you want to keep up with your existing customers. The other day I went to a frozen yogurt shop and they told me that I could "friend" them on Facebook and get special deals. I did and got regular updates about the company and coupons. I typically don't use their coupons, but every time I see those posts I get a sudden urge to eat yogurt. Somehow I doubt a plumber or phone book company would get the same response.
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This sounds about as fun as receiving tweets from a proctologist.
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One last word of caution- if you are going to set up a Facebook or Twitter account, don't do it half way. If you don't update it regularly, it could do more harm than good.
Thanks for your Business,
Reed
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