Why Social Media Matters

This is a Guest Post Article written by Vicky Anscombe who is an Online PR and Social Media Consultant for Further, a Norwich-based SEO and Marketing agency. She enjoys writing blogs on varying topics, making brownies, eating brownies and watching Father Ted over and over again.

Even if you’re a newcomer to the world of online networking, you’ll be aware that social media is an online phenomenon that is rapidly growing – and changing every day. This makes it hugely powerful, and hugely interesting – but also rather frightening, if you’re not used to the idea of getting your business online. ‘Experts’ in this field don’t exist yet – so we’re all still using common sense when it comes to handling our social media accounts, which is no bad thing.

If you’re still unsure of social media, and your company is without a social media account, it’s time to put your fears to one side, and examine the reasons why you should look at getting online…

It’s free, fast and it’s easy to use. If people need to contact you, they can use a channel that won’t cost them any money (telephone) or could take a while getting to you (email). Twitter messages are sent instantly, and you can reply instantly. This is great for companies who need a high level of customer service and who value speedy responses.

It adds a new dimension to your brand. Social media isn’t a magic recipe for increasing sales by 2,000%, but you can use it to communicate and engage with your existing customers, thereby improving your brand’s reputation – and reaching out to potential customers. People enjoy talking to their favourite brands, seeing what you’ve been up to, and finding out your plans for the future.

Promote your successes. Won a prize for your services? Been nominated for an award? Got a brand new team that is making you prouder every day? Social media lets you upload your pictures and talk about your achievements, no matter how small. It’s PR at its most basic level, and it shows your followers that you value your business.

Moving with the times. Businesses that refuse to use social media on the grounds that it’s ‘not for us’ or they ‘don’t need it’ are sometimes right, but not often. Unless you run a correctional facility or a scrapyard, you should into exploring social media. The one thing that you don’t want is your customers thinking you’re afraid of change, which is what might happen if you stubbornly refuse to embrace new things.

It’s low maintenance. You don’t have to constantly update your Facebook or Twitter; just a few updates a day will keep your followers aware of your online presence. Nobody expects you to tweet every ten minutes. If anything, all you need to look out for are queries and comments, and when it comes to complaints, the sooner you respond, the better.

Thanks Vicky, very good article. I do want to disagree with one point you made… “Experts’ in this field don’t exist yet”. It is true that its very hard to sift through the masses of people who call themselves “Social Media Gurus”, “Ninjas”, “Prodigies” and so on.

However, I do know of a few people who I consider experts, folks like Alan K’necht, AJ Kohn and Mr. Kevin Mullett.

I strongly recommend that anyone who is interested in learning more about Social Media Marketing, follow these guys and Vicky on Twitter

Arsen