Is Social Media a Fad?

Lately, I have been tasked by my MD to launch and implement our Direct Marketing Strategy which also included a segment called Social Media. As marketing professionals we are fully aware that our brands must live an active social life and that it is quickly becoming a very important customer service channel - as customers are interacting and socialising on the web.

Gone are the days that you can think of marketing as above-the-line advertising, below-the-line advertising, having a dynamic website and sending corporate newsletters to your customer base. Now we have Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Google+ on the social media front to help with the building of your brand in a very cost effective way.

One of my customers recently conveyed their lack of interest in the social media space as they were afraid of bad customer feedback and the impact it would have on their business and brand moving forward. My answer was to use the opportunity to engage with the unhappy customer on how to improve their customer service! Brands need to take note that their customers are talking about their services and products even without them either knowing it or participating in the conversations!

Instead of being afraid – why don’t we all tackle social media heads-on? We need to realise that Social Media is here to stay and it should be considered as a consumer communications channel. Today, customers want to interact and communicate with their brands of choice via facebook, twitter etc. and social media is becoming more popular and part of their lives as internet usage on smartphones increases.

But, we need to be prepared, first of all consider the following before you launch your venture into the social media arena:

1. Have a strategy.
2. Select your channels coutiously.
3. Social media doesn’t provide any ROI but you can measure the social impact of your brand.
4. Choose your resources wisely.
5. Timing is of great importance to when you post your comments etc.
6. Always keep your brand image on the forefront.
7. Have a social crisis contingency plan of action in place.

Social media is growing up fast and customers are investing a lot of their time in the social space, better make sure that you are prepared and visible to reap the rewards!

Still one of my favourite videos which I would like to share with you: