Tweak Your Biz » Marketing » Who’s scared of the big bad social media?

Who’s scared of the big bad social media?

by Christina Giliberti on March 29th, 2010
18 Comments



Everything you read these days has a connection to social media, because everyone is doing it. Or are they? A chorus of voices shout ‘yes’ in unison, but there’s a definate minority attempting to hide behind the confident tweeterati.

And that gets me thinking ….

How many of us (our potential customers) are scared of social media?

After all, not all of us are blessed with the gift of the gab, social ease or confident chatter. We take it for granted that all companies big and small will have a social media presence, but have we considered the fearful few?

Whilst wheedling out these social misfits and plying them with strategy-rich dialogue may seem like the answer, I think that we should take a step back and soothe our troubled companions by tackling their fears head on.

Fear number one

No’one knows me or my company. I’m just a little fish in a very big pond While this may be true, that does not mean that what you have to say is irrelevant, useless or pointless. Social media is an even platform for all companies and many small companies are making big splashes.

Make a list – past and present clients, associates, friends etc. Add your accounts to your website and your blog. Once you start blogging and chatting, people will listen and interact with you. At this point they take an interest in your company and get to know you.

Fear number two

Everyones better at it than me. The reason being is that they have a dedicated member of their company or a professional handling their presence. They are testing ideas, trialing concepts and sharing information. They are proactivity joining in discussions, sharing their experiences, interacting with others and generally being socialible beings.

You could make a list here too – public festivals, events, company news, articles pertaining to your industry or written by your company. Competitions, offers, incentives and trials are also good.

Fear number three

I don’t know what to say. Ahh, a tough one. Work on the list above if words are not your strong point, ask another member of staff or employ a professional. Watch others in action and take notes on topic, voice and strategy. The more you learn, the more you can apply it to your own sites.

Fear number four

What if I recieve no followers or friends. It’s embarrassing. Start with your list of company employees, friends and associates. Be proactive and feature your social media links as much as possible. By writing on other sites, you can link back to yours. Gradually interest and presense will grow.

What other fears may be excluding businesses from using Social Media?



Category: Blogging, Social media Marketing

Tags: , , ,

The Author:

Christina is a complete geek, hence a perfect web + online marketing consultant. After ten years working with Premier Recruitment Group, LA Fitness, Monarch Airlines, Thomson Travel and a host of other companies, she now owns CG Online Marketing (www.cgonlinemarketing.com) in Ireland and is an associate of the Ahain Group. She's qualified in most things online such as web server management, digital design, Google Analytics and SEO. Specialties: Social Media Marketing, SEO / PPC,Google analytics (qualified in GA IQ) Web trends + insights, Data segmentation and targeting, Customer Behavior analysis, Digital design, Writing, Ethical marketing Green marketing / Sustainable tourism and Hotel + travel online marketing http://www.cgonlinemarketing.com

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  • http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

    Christina, Ill be the first to admit (I’m even a little embarrassed because) that I never considered the part fear must no doubtingly play when it comes to businesses and business people considering social media. You make some excellent observations, real food for thought!

  • http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

    great post Frank – I totally agree!!!
    But on a more serious note, there are two aspects to blogging and commenting I find provoke people – incorrect information and arrogance.
    Most blog posts are based on the author’s opinion, unless they reference someone or an article or such. Very often an opinion is perceived as incorrect fact and criticised.

    When people are commenting, they should indeed challenge, as Nadja suggests, but leave the EGO outside the comment section.
    I love a good discussion in the comments of a blog, however, too often they become battle of the commenters, and the original post is forgotten about.
    Just some observations..thanks for sharing your insights and stark reminder to believe in oneself :)

  • Anonymous

    Frank,

    What a challenging proposition! On the whole, I’d say I agree with you but I got to wondering about people who are contrary because of some internal issue. Do we give some people more influence than is warranted?

  • Anonymous

    I can’t stand criticism and often feel it’s rooted in people’s need to take the high moral ground. But I know I need to get over thsi if I want to improve. As long as the criticism is well-worded, straight and shows that a person has thought about what you’ve written, it’s worth bearing in mind.

  • http://www.stress-solutions4life.com/ Catherine Connors

    Very good post Frank, of course all points of view, from positive to negative are essentially snippets of information which we can use to personally evolve. The difference is how we look at it.

  • Anonymous

    Hi Nadja,

    Don’t worry, you weren’t the inspiration for this post. It was a combination of people. Certainly there are some people who always want to be different just to be stubborn. I guess the key is to filter out those who are being constructive.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the comment Leo. As I said to Nadja, I think it’s important to filter out the people who are continuously contrary, and so that you can focus on those providing constructive feedback. Key to this is not to be too easily dismissive.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the comment Elaine. You touch on a good point about references, which is something I don’t see in a lot of blogs.

  • Anonymous

    I’d say give people a chance. Don’t jump to make a quick opinion on whether they are contrary or not.

  • Anonymous

    yes – criticism has to be constructive of course. The difficulty is being able to be impartial enough to view it as constructive.

  • Anonymous

    I agree. it’s all in the eye of the beholder.

  • Anonymous

    Frank,

    I know what you’re saying and I did keep my comment short. Before I decide if someone is being contrary for whatever reason, I try to spend time seeing if there is some kind of relationship developing. Sometimes you can discover that a person is socially awkward so things just come out wrong but still have value. Other times you never know what his/her agenda truly is. I recognize the value of patience and I would couple this with considering the source.

  • http://alistairjohnston.com Alistair Johnston

    Hi Christina

    I totally agree with your point that “social media is an even platform for all companies and many small companies are making big splashes”. In my experience it’s the SME’s that are the pioneers in social media, often with the larger companies lagging behind. This means that SME’s have an unusually loud voice in the marketplace right now, solely because it’s taking a bit more time for the bigger players to catch on to what’s happening.

  • http://www.cgonlinemarketing.com/ Christina Giliberti

    Hi Alistair,

    Thats true, the SME’s are pushing the boat out in the social field. Maybe its also because they have a narrower reporting structure and can make snap decisions, or can easiliy adjust their focus as theor role is more flexible. I’ve spoken to many budding writers who are all keen to make their mark and learn SM. Its new, exciting and accessible for them. Still the points above are barriers, plus time spent online.

    Thanks for the comment.

    Christina

  • http://www.smartsolutions.ie/blog/ Elaine Rogers

    One very important aspect for small businesses is ~ “If you do not ask, you might not get” Certainly it is not a given, that when you bill a client with “30 days Credit” stamped on the invoice, that the money just magically appears in your bank account in 31 days.nnSmall businesses must be VERY pro-active in getting paid, ever before they consider hiring in the heavies, but once every channel has been used, it is imperative to hire the right people – thanks for sharing some great tips there Dave.

  • Dave Thomas

    Elaine,nYou note some good points. I think given the state of the economy, more consumers are compiling lists of what most needs their attention, i.e. rent/food/car payments…. I would think this is a good time for collection agencies to be drumming up business….

  • http://www.agencyseo.com/seo-company.html Kabir38k

    You are right on those point.I agree with you.

  • Dave Grundy

    Congratulations Jackie – a common sense, easy to follow guide for every leader, manager to work to. This gives everyone a fair chance to make an informed decision that works for everyone. After all, the candidate is choosing the organisation too.

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