The Benefits of Social Media

“Social media is a waste of time.”

This is something I hear at least once a week. However, this time, I was surprised, as the person who said it is the Director of Marketing for his company and he was teaching a seminar on how to become a consultant.

At one point, I asked a question and he asked what I do for a living. I admit I felt a little snarky when I said “I teach people how to use social media as a business tool.” He had the grace to apologize to me later, but his opinion is far from uncommon.

I met someone else at a networking event this week who said essentially the same thing. But, she truly wanted to know how she could use social media in a way that would benefit her business. It was just that in her experience, she only saw posts from people saying what they had for dinner, showing off the latest pictures of their grandkids and talking about what was on TV…and of course, posting about politics. She’s a very busy entrepreneur and just doesn’t have time to read all that…so she saw no value in it.

I told her that to me, social media, and in particular, Facebook, is similar to the water cooler or the coffee pot in an office. People pop by, spend a couple of minutes on small talk, then go back to work. While their conversations may be trivial, they are more than that: they’re a way for people to get to know if they want to spend more time getting to know someone.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: we work with people we know, like and trust. So, we use social media as a way to get to know someone and to know if we want to work with them and/or refer them to our friends and business associates.

So, how does this work for a business?

Exactly the same way.

People form an impression about a business when they read their online posts. Is it a business that is a valuable resource…or only interested in the next sale? People are interested in what’s in it for them, not what’s in it for the business.

I advise businesses to use the 70/30 rule in their posts. That is, at least 70% of the posts should be fun, informative, informational and so on, but nothing that specifically reminds someone of what the business does. The remaining 30% can gently remind the readers about the business. I say “gently” because hard-sell posts very rarely work. Don’t be a “used car salesman,” only posting buy from me, buy from me, buy from me.

Businesses can have a sense of humor, too. I’ve started posting a funny cartoon or image every day on my Page. Sometimes, it applies to social media, but usually, it’s just something I think my Fans might enjoy.

The most important thing to remember is that it’s an actual live, human being reading the posts – not just a target audience, customer, potential client or referral source. Give them a reason to know, like and trust you (and your business) and they’ll be more likely to use your services and tell their friends about you.

As always, I look forward to your comments! Post them below