Countless articles appear daily on the growing use of social media as a marketing and advertising channel.
It is very easy to argue the case for each and every company capitalising on social media as a means to gain greater online exposure. The exponential growth of social media in itself is a weighty argument for us all to jump on the bandwagon.
I overheard a conversation recently which made me step back from my initial enthusiasm, bordering on frenzy, to push for greater social media interaction.
Paraphrased, the conversation went:-
Over Enthused One: We should create a company profile with Y social media channel.
More Grounded One: Why?
Over Enthused One: Because all of our customers use it.
More Grounded One: How do you know? Have you asked them?
Over Enthused One: No, but they must be.
More Grounded One: You would have thought so.
[Conversation ends with both sides equally deflated]
It is the assumption that most people are using social media that is driving some companies into developing their social media presence.
This article does not mean to dampen any enthusiasm towards social media it merely highlights the need for companies to take realistic stock of who their customers are.
Social media is definitely here to stay but in this ever-evolving information world we now operate in, some of the basic tenets of successful marketing risk getting overlooked.
With any innovation clear analysis, fact finding, goal setting and review are a must.