Embrace Social Media, Or Watch It Pass You By

The fear sparked by social media can be great. It runs contradictory to everything marketers have previously been taught. Marketers are used to scrambling for the largest megaphone to talk with the masses. Social media relies on a more individualized approach.
Many people are resistant to change, and that is understandable. They don't want in, until they are 100 percent convinced that whatever it is, is here to stay. They will only partake because of the realization that whatever it is will pass them by.
There have been stories in the news recently about Facebook peaking. Do not confuse this with
Facebook dying. This simply means that Facebook is running out of potential customers. With the web site hovering around 700 million users worldwide, it's natural that growth would begin to trickle off at some point. That number is more than twice the population of the U.S.
There are still people voicing their opposition to mounting a social media campaign for their business, despite this astronomical growth. For these people, social media is either a passing fad, or they have tried it in the past and it just hasn't worked. Either way, their fears are misplaced.

People have grown used to connecting with their friends online. They can talk, seek answers to questions, and come to know people in a whole different way than was ever available before. Social media turns a big world into a small one. We have grown used to the intimacy that comes with this phenomenon.

The ability to stay connected with friends is no longer a passing fad. We can quickly talk with
them, seek answers to our questions, post pictures and generally stay more connected. Will Facebook eventually die? Sure, anything is possible given time. You can substitute the platform however. The ability to stay this closely connected with friends is here to stay.
Those who say it doesn't work should stay at it. It can be tough. You may not achieve the response that you want all the time. Instead of consistently posting about your business try engaging people in conversation.

Comment on other people's posts. Talk with people about things that don't necessarily have to do with your business. Patience is key, however. The hard sale is not going to work. If you talk with people enough, they will know who you are. Six months down the road they may need your services. If you've done your job, they'll think of you.

The other pressing question is how to measure success. Your web site analytics will tell you how you are doing. There are features that allow you to measure incoming traffic from referring web sites. That traffic should start to build.

Because social media is so heavily based on conversation, however, don't get too caught up in numbers. Make sure that you comment on others' posts, stay active in conversation, and the results should come in.

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