Should Your Corporation Engage in Social Media?
Is your company ready for the new digital age? Do you know how many customers that you are missing if you are not online and fully engaged in social media? The generation that grew up on computers is now of age with jobs and plenty of expendable income. As a matter of fact, the Millennial generation has more money to spend than Baby Boomers by the accounts of some marketing professionals.
How to Engage the New Buying Public Social media is officially the new word-of-mouth. Instead of asking friends and family in real life about a new business, people will look to their Facebook or Twitter in order to see what is popular in the area. If you want to be a part of this new audience, then you must have a presence on these social media pages.
Real-Time Feedback People are quickly adjusting to real-time feedback when it comes to reviewing and vetting a business. There are superstars on websites such as Yelp and Foursquare who actually make a living reviewing businesses as they patronize them in real time. You never know who is shopping at your store next. You may have a Yelp reviewer who can bring you can more customers if you have excellent customer service and a top-notch product. If you are not on social media, you will have no idea of who these people are. If you are on social media, you can market to them specifically so that they can function as your free PR unit.
Social Media is Cheaper! The returns on social media are exponentially higher than traditional media. If you are still advertising on television or on radio, then you are wasting a great deal of money. You no longer have to pay in order to maintain content as an advertisement — as soon as you put it up on social media, it will stay there until you take it down. On top of that, it has the ability to go viral, giving you exponentially more views without any further effort on your part. When it comes to the question of engaging in social media, the real question is not whether or not to do it — it is how much money to spend on it. When every company in the Fortune 100 dedicates at least a quarter of their marketing budget to social media and mobile advertising, it may be time for you to consider it.
Jeff Ramson is the CEO of PCG Advisory Group Investor Relations Expert with over 25 years of Wall Street experience.