Does social media really work?

The latest rage for businesses is called "social media." You're talking about Twitter, Facebook, and other sites that promise to hook you up with more customers and publicity than you'd ever believe that you can get using anything else to sell your products or services.

How much of this is hype, and how much reality?

I came across this article by Patrick Gray, the founder and president of Prevoyance Group, and author of Breakthrough IT: Supercharging Organizational Value through Technology.

I suggest you read the entire article, but for now, here are some of the main points he makes:

Understand your market

While social media is a new medium, its newness does not preempt the traditional rules of marketing. Whether you’re attempting to “sell” yourself as an industry expert, or build buzz and kick start sales of that new breakthrough product, you must determine who the likely buyers are, whether or not they hang out on the social media circuit, and how to generate content that appeals to them.

There is madness afoot

The assumption that you will attract dedicated followers in the social media space is generally correct, but that can be a double-edged sword. For example, I tracked the social media response of a recently-introduced motorcycle. The product was met with accolades and excitement as details of it leaked, then was rapidly and scathingly panned by these obsessive followers. Those most passionate about the product dismissed the most minor details, lambasting the manufacturer for not including esoteric and expensive components, while simultaneously complaining long and loud about the “shockingly high” proposed price. In short order, the only product that would have satisfied this bunch would have been a Ferrari sold at a Hyundai price.

Tweet, don't repeat

If you intend to use Twitter to market yourself or your products, you must be a source of original content. Rather than obsessing over your number of followers, or seeking to follow all the purported experts and pour over their posts, seek to generate quality, original content. With few exceptions, most of us are in the business of selling some sort of knowledge, whether it is a nuanced technical exposition or the emotive response you’ll feel as you rev the engine of a new sports car, those that succeed in knowledge-based marketing are those that generate compelling content, not those that mindlessly parrot the thoughts of others.

Get good advice

Approach any adviser with a healthy dose of skepticism, especially if they’re unable to tie the purported wonders of social media to concrete results for your particular business, in a manner that is understandable and rational. Trust your gut, and if a proposed effort likely would not work in a more traditional medium, the “magic” of social media is unlikely to save it.

Track your efforts and have an exit strategy

Embarking on a social media campaign is time consuming, and thus expensive. While hitting the “tweet” button has virtually no cost, a social media campaign must be planned, nurtured, tracked and managed with the vigilance of any other campaign. Since this is often an intimate look at your brand, letting the summer intern run amuck posting on behalf of your organization is probably not the best strategy. Rarely will social media result directly in sales, and simple “brand building” is a poor excuse for an involved effort. Use social media to gather new prospects that you can track through the sales pipeline, and if the time and money required to maintain the campaign do not generate results, abandon the campaign.

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