I’ve had a few additional opinions on social media that I will share here because this is my blog and I can do that.
First is automating your social media, I am not a fan of any auto anything. It takes away from the point of social media. I can set up an auto conversation with a person standing in front of me so why try to automate a relationship or conversation on a social networking site. There may be times automation is ok, but I personally have not found those times…yet.
Next is the issue of how much time does social media take…well, to do it properly (as a business) it is time intensive. As a brand it takes time to build relationships, to listen, to monitor conversations, to be there, to interact, and so on. Can this be done in an hour a day? Possibly but in my opinion, whatever you want out of it…you must put into it; proving to people that you are real, honest, engaged, and relevant takes time. I will probably get into this more at a later date but I wanted to get this down as a starter.
Last thought for now is the ROI thing….sweet mother of baby Jesus. Two things I’ve heard from people that I thought were hilarious when asked about ROI…one says that every time someone mentions ROI on SM a baby seal dies (something similar to this anyways) and the other guy asks this question back, “What’s the ROI on your mom?” I understand the importance of “the numbers” but there can certainly be too much attention paid to that too. Building relationships will improve the bottom line but it may not be by next week or even six months from now.
I will probably elaborate on my views more as time goes on as I am still formulating (and always will be) my thoughts in this space. I’m a huge believer in engaging with people and the rest will come! So let it be, and enjoy!!
Related articles
- The Impact of Social Media (mindjumpers.com)
- Social Media … or Social Blogmarking? (problogger.net)
I don’t have anything to add, expect I wholeheartedly agree with these thoughts of yours, Matthew. SM is hard to measure in relation to ROI. For me, it’s the personal and business relationships I have made on Twitter and FB that have lifted me up, provided a lead, made me laugh, cry or otherwise make me contemplate this universe we live in.
Just buckle up and enjoy the ride, I say.
You are oh so right Sandra! All that is ROI in a different sense, if I walk away from a social media conversation on Twitter for example…with a good idea, motivation, a friend, etc; that all has value. It may not always be a dollar figure but it IS value nonetheless. Thanks for your comment and you’re right on…buckle up!! lol
My FAVORITE blog to comment on. Why? Because most of the time we think so much alike it’s downright scary. I don’t auto anything either. For two reasons, I don’t sleep a huge amount of hours (also like you?) and I can access the “work” account I tweet from on my laptop at home as well. I think I’ve now been told twenty times to open a personal Twitter account, but why? I do nothing automated either, and why? Mostly because I’ve never taken the time to learn how and then it really would feel like an extension of “work” (which I promised myself a long time ago to stop bringing home). And I like looking for great tweet to RT and reading blogs and articles and talking to my Twitter friends from all over the world (24 hours a day if I want to).
I do have to be mindful of some kind of ROI and I can report one…in sales not only for my store but other stores around the country (I set up their store accounts so I can check). In the added publicity and advertising we have received by being invited to be a part of something worthwhile going on. And the business contacts, coordinates pretty nicely with LinkedIn.
But my favorite thing has become just spending time chatting away with people I’ve met. I love people…what they say, who they “hang” with, what they do for a living, etc. EVERYTHING! I can also honestly say if it were not for my employer, I most likely would not have done much more than have a personal Facebook account so I can see my family and friends who live all over the country which to this day my husband is on and uses more than I do.
Life’s pretty grand Matthew. And call it what you will, social media has added to that for me.
That’s so awesome Cheri, I think you’re spot on! I agree, for business purposes, there needs to be a reconciling for spending time on social sites, but (as you’ve seen) there are so many different ways to value this space. The friendships, the idea generation that comes from chatting with these brilliant people, and the brand building that naturally happens while doing all this. Thanks so much for the comments, I really appreciate the feedback!! And life indeed GRAND!!