Social Media is Pointless

One of the hardest parts of my job is convincing C-level execs that their business can benefit from social media marketing.  The two most common phrases I hear are, “I just don’t get social media” and “Social media is pointless”.  It’s easy to provide them with examples of other companies that have increased profits from social media marketing, but, it’s also very easy to show examples of companies who failed to use social media the right way and wasted their time.  Social media is pointless, if you don’t invest time in building relationships and a quality network.

Social media marketing should be approached just like any other marketing effort.  The content you produce must be intriguing and entertaining to spark, and keep, people’s interest; and it has to be valuable enough that people will continue to come back for more.

Social media is pointless to those who “just don’t get it”.  Building a quality social network is similar to starting a business.  You start with nothing and try to turn it into something that will generate an ROI.  It’s intimidating to venture into a world with millions of people and attempting to convincing them your product/service is valuable to them.  You have to be willing to invest the time and effort into social media in order for it to work for you. Research some of the social media influencers to see how they built, not only their company, but also their personal brand.

Social media is pointless if you create profiles and neglect them.  It’s easy to create a profile, and even easier to forget about it. You can’t provide a service to your customers and ignore them once you’ve made the sale.  When you choose to use social media as a marketing tool, you begin to build relationships and trust.  Your social media efforts are an extension of  your brand.  One bad tweet, or wall post can be a PR nightmare.

Is social media pointless?  It can be if you don’t know how to use it, or show no interest in using it.  However, the right social media strategy has the potential to generate new business and introduces your brand to millions worldwide.