Social Media: ROI or Do or Die

Click here http://bit.ly/fyRkpE  for the full article.

NewMediaPlus.Net is the leading blog for social media marketing information, click here to view the website

Written by Freddy Wahler | 15 December 2010

 

 As the leader of a small- or medium-sized business, you are constantly faced with a choice: do you spend your time reacting to what others are saying, or do you spend your time proactively moving toward a long-term goal?

In social media marketing, your answer to this question will be the deciding factor in your business' success. This is because social marketing is such a new field.

In the first implementation of your social media program, everything will be coming up roses, as the old saying goes. Dipping into social media is fun! You create shiny, new online profiles, you keep in touch with your customers with exciting updates and you try to build a community around your products.

But soon reality sets in and you find yourself answering tough questions and snarky complaints. How do we measure the ROI on social media? Why does our business have to be so transparent? Which department owns this project, anyway? What are the legal ramifications of a Twitter post? Why should we care about such a new and unproven way of marketing?

Here is where you make the choice:

You become a social media champion with a long-term vision for your business's success, or

Your social media initiative spends all of its resources reacting to internal and external complaints and is eventually reduced to a glorified help desk

When you choose to have a vision for success, ROI and complaints become second-tier issues. Your primary concern is to give your company a human touch. Instead of being reactive, you are being proactive. You are pushing to become a part of an online community, reaching out from the real people at your company to the real people who are following your online presence. You are working to unite the departments of your company so that the entire business is part of the initiative. In other words, you are changing the very nature of your company and forcing it to become compassionate, empathetic and humane.

Social media is changing the very nature of the way we do business. Particularly when marketing to the youngest generations of our society, marketing through social media is the only way to succeed. As this younger generation matures and takes the reins of power, businesses that are stuck on questions about ROI, complaints or transparency will be left in the dust. It's do or die, not ROI.

Click here http://bit.ly/fyRkpE  for the full article.