Time - Social Media Might Just Be Worth It

It takes too much time. There isn’t enough time. I’m running out of time. It’s time to make the donuts.

When I talk to companies or groups about implementing social media as part of their marketing efforts I am always hit with the objection that it takes too much time.

Yes, engaging in social media does take time. There is the time to research and figure out where to put your efforts. There is the time that it takes to set up accounts and profiles. There is time for the learning curve of how to use the sites. There is the time to building up content and time to find things of value to share. There is the time to find the people to engage with and then of course there is the time it takes to keep up the conversations.

Yes, it takes time. There is no denying that fact. So let’s talk about ROI. There are tons of tools out there that allow you to monitor, track, research and update all of your social media from a single point. These tools number in the thousands and while some are more popular and robust than others I will talk about a few of them in the next blog entry.

So let’s talk about ROI. Marketing, no matter how you do it, takes time. It used to be that you needed 3-5 touches before a buyer would engage. Then it dragged out to 5-7 touches. Now with the deafening noise of marketing both traditionally and digitally, it can take 9-12 touches. How many cold call phone calls do you have to make to get to actually speak to a qualified buyer? How many networking events do you have to attend and how many people do you have to meet to make a solid connection? All of this takes time.

So what is the point of social media? There are a couple of home runs with social media.

First is that in an unthreatening environment you can connect to people that you might never have had the chance to meet otherwise. In a more casual way you ‘connect’.

Second is that you become part of a community. Today, more than ever people look to their groups and connections first for resources and you stand a better chance of getting referred or having someone point an interested buyer your way.

Third it reaches further than other methods and is permanent. Think of throwing a stone in a pond. The ripple of water at the point of entry keeps going out further and further reaching beyond the point where the stone landed. And the stone is now a permanent piece of that pond. It will always be there to be found. What other forms of marketing can do that for you?

Another compelling reason to get involved is knowing that everyone is talking about everything and so that means you or your company is going to come up somewhere at sometime and shouldn’t you know about that?
Think about how much time you can save by cutting a problem off before it snowballs. Think about how much time you can save by responding to a need before your competitors catch wind. Think about it and then get started.

If you don’t know where or how to begin it might make sense to hire a professional in this field that can save you time up front to get you started and coach you and your team toward success. Trust me – you’ll be thrilled you did.