+1 For Social Media
We have resisted social media for a long time. I thought just providing better online tools, resources, and customer service would suffice. I thought having good web content and a client user portal would do the job. I thought blogging was just an ego trip. I was vindicated when MySpace flopped, but now at the end of 2011, it seems as though my prediction that Facebook and Twitter would be just another fad…. has not come true. Everywhere I look, HUGE companies now promote their Facebook page instead of their website. On the evening news the other night, all 3 commercials had their Facebook page at the end of it, instead of their website. We’re talking companies deciding to spend 15,000 bucks for a 20 second commercial and they promote Facebook instead of their own site.
Facebook Wins?
I stopped in a random parking lot to make a phone call a few days ago, and the banner on the side of the building had Facebook at the bottom instead of a web address. What on earth is going on? Will Google + take over Facebook?
Marketing today evolves as quickly as the stock market goes up and down.
Let me still go on the record that someday Facebook and Twitter will not be relevant anymore… But today… They are. And unfortunately for us, we have to deal with it. I see Facebook and Twitter casualties every day. You go to a company page and you can see the last post was 6 months ago. It is a LOT of work to maintain this crap. Most people and even I have given up on it. I have one staff member dedicated full time to Facebook and Twitter. And HE doesn’t even have the time to REALLY do it. Then providing relevant and useful content and gimmicks to keep your followers and fans interacting with you is just one more insanely time consuming step. So what is the answer?
I completely blew off my staffs’ continual nagging of how important Facebook, Twitter, and social media was in general. I mean, Microsoft Word doesn’t even know how to proof read with the term “Social Media.” I finally gave in and sent our companies first annoying email to our clients asking them if they wanted to follow us or like us. This was a major problem for me. I have NEVER until this point sent a client a BS email offering a little bit of information in exchange for a sales pitch. Though we didn’t offer a sales pitch, we simply asked if they wanted to connect. To my utter shock and disgust, over 9,000 clients followed us, and some 5,000 clients “Liked” us on Facebook. Ughhhh. This is horrible news. This means that OUR clients actually are into this worthless waste of time. My staff was right. Social Media is relevant. Whether I want to admit it or not.
So where does this leave us now? Well, I find myself blogging at 5:21 PM after everyone is gone. Blogging like all the angry bloggers I’ve consistently made fun of. Desperately trying to connect with my clients that make my living possible. Desperately trying to maintain relevance to my clients and future ones. So we will hopelessly jump on every new social trend and make a better effort to stay current as of today. Google +, here we come. Whatever the heck you are…