Are There Rules in Social Media?

I have been writing recently about the pros, cons and evolution of the phenomenon called, social media. It’s an online environment flush with many opinions.

Danny Brown wrote to express that perhaps I was not seeing the whole picture about social media, and he may very well have a good point. So, I invited Danny and his partner, Susan Murphy, to share their perspectives on this blog. Both Danny and Susan are based on Ontario:

Much has been written recently about social media’s business uses. While it can be said that social media has still to really connect with the business world, much of this is down to the businesses themselves. From general misunderstanding to simply bad advice, there’s a great deal of misconception on what businesses can get out of social media.

Yet for those that really get it, the rewards of social media can outshine many proven business tools.

Find Your Reasons

Despite what some self-proclaimed “gurus” would have you believe, social media is not a catch-all solution for marketing a business. A strategy is only successful if it is based on meeting specific goals. Where businesses make mistakes is jumping in too quickly, setting up blogs, feeds and accounts without having a solid handle on the reasons why.

When these efforts fail for a company, it doesn’t mean that social media has failed them – it means they didn’t have a good enough reason to jump aboard in the first place.

Getting the Mix Right

Another mistake is the mindset that just by using social media, sales and results will follow. It just doesn’t work this way. Like any successful business tool, you need to understand social media and put it to the best use depending on your needs.

This is where you need strong market research to advise you of the best social media sites and networks for your audience. For example, MySpace is mainly used by bands to promote their music – perfect if you manufacture blank CD’s, not so much if you’re a cement mixer manufacturer. Using social media is no different from using other marketing tools – it’s all about knowing your audience.

Different Tools, Different Results

Getting the mix right is only a part of the overall strategy for using social media effectively. Understanding what the various social media applications can offer is also key. There’s more to social media than just Facebook and Twitter. Perhaps most surprisingly, it’s often the lesser-known tools that offer the best results:

• Stumbleupon can bring an impressive amount of new traffic to your website with very little effort. The Stumbleupon Ad option also offers a key difference to tools like Google AdWords or Yahoo Sponsored Search, because you’re guaranteed direct hits to your website.

• Backtype allows you to monitor comments left on other people’s blogs. This offers a straight line to one of the most valuable tools any business can have – access to what’s being said about you and your competitors. This type of instantaneous feedback is invaluable – from crisis control to product improvement, it’s a way to monitor and react in a much faster manner.

These are just two examples of effective use of social media for ROI and business management. While it’s still finding its feet, social media is already a hugely effective business tool, if you know how to use it. Like anything, you’ll get out of it what you put in.

Bios:

Danny Brown is the owner of Press Release PR, a boutique PR agency based in Toronto, Ontario specializing in social media PR. He is also a blog partner for the iEntry and WebProNews business network of publications.

Susan Murphy is a partner at Jester Creative Inc, a new media production company based in Ottawa, Ontario. She blogs about social media and life in general at Suzemuse.

Filed Under: Featured • Social Media

Tags: Social Media