Social Media is for life, not just for Christmas

Kathleen |

Social Media requires commitment and if you, are not ready to commit, then don’t do it. Do ask yourself though why you are not ready to commit as time is ticking and you could be missing the boat. Social media is here to stay and we are all going to have to commit to it at some point. As Socialnomics’ famous Social Media Revolution video states, the ROI of social media is that your business will still exist in 5 years.

June 30 was Social Media Day. The good folks at Mashable came up with a day in which social media enthusiasts and users around the world could come together and celebrate social dialogue and the tools and platforms enabling the “revolution” of social media. Mikail Belicove then wrote a great article the following day on Entrepreneur.com entitled What’s Missing From ‘Social Media Day’ which essentially concluded that what businesses and organizations need is a Social Media Strategy Day. He referred to how many businesses fall away from social media after the 90-day trial period because they fail to actually devise a long-term strategy. I saw this in the U.S. and now here in Northern Ireland. It seems that everyone here is now jumping on the social media bandwagon, but I can already see signs of of many of these companies and organizations running out of steam because they lack vision and a clear communications strategy.

The people at Digital Brand Expressions, claim that nearly 60 percent of businesses today don’t have a strategic media communications plan to guide their social media efforts. In evaluating whether you should be using social media for your business or organization, it is essential to first fully determine what your media communications strategy is across all media platforms whether they be print, broadcast, or online social media. Step back firstly and determine a clear vision of the core purpose of your business or organization and then develop a credible and authentic voice to communicate this purpose through traditional and online media. You need to go back to the drawing board again, familiarize yourself again with who you are, how you are currently perceived by your audience, and how you would like your organization to be seen and talked about. You then need to determine the resources you have at your disposal to develop and maintain a social media presence. Don’t just hand it over to the intern or a junior level assistant. Executives and senior staff need to be involved in this as they are the ones who know their organization/business and industry best.

So, take responsible initiative and invest in developing a media and social media communications strategy. Be sure to keep it flexible in this ever changing and expanding online media world, and remember to evaluate it on a regular basis. In a nutshell: planning, action, reflection…