Social Media – You’re Not Alone If You Don’t Quite Get It!

At last week’s Brand Yorkshire event in Leeds United’s function suites, I attended a talk about social media. Things are changing so rapidly that it’s always good to find out what’s new, especially in the business of copywriting.

The presentation started with a slide showing a cave painting of animals, used to demonstrate that social communication has been around as long as humans. Early copywriters were a lot hairier than me! The means may be different now, but the objective is unchanged – to tell people what YOU are doing.

The delegates fell broadly into two camps. Sure, there were those who use LinkedIn and Twitter successfully to drive more business – many of whom are the companies promoting ‘How-to-get-the-most-out-of-social-media’ Services. The others, possibly the majority either haven’t got LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Business accounts, or if they have, can’t quite see how to get business from them.

Two Costs of Social Media

Talking to other small business owners, the general consensus appears to be that there are two costs to persuing a social media strategy. They are money and time. With marketing budgets squeezed, SME owners are choosing to write their own blogs and newsletters, but making the time for Twitter updates or Facebook posts is largely considered unproductive unless you have been enlightened.

Find Free Advice

It’s out there! Sign up for newsletters with tips, attend seminars and networking meetings which focus on social media. Look on YouTube for pointers from gurus like Will Kintish. He maintains that social media only works as an extension of real live meetings. Social media according to Will Kintish is about learning about your contacts, liking, then trusting them, which can ultimately only be achieved if you have a face-to-face at some point.

I’ve just requested to join a group on LinkedIn called Reach Further, where advice is promised. Quite a few of the contacts in my network who I trust are already members of this group, so it appears credible.

Part of The Plan

There’s no getting away from it. If you want to find more business from social media contacts, some level of investment in terms of time and money is required. To become a worthwhile excercise, social media needs to be part of the overall plan with an allocation for time and spend, rather than a hopeful dabble in the dark.

For a low cost option, invest in setting up your social media package, ensuring all the elements are interlinked. For example, this blog post will automatically appear on Triple M Copywriting’s Twitter page and Michelle Marks’ Linked In Profile.  The next item on my agenda is to link my Facebook for Business page up too.

If you want blog posts or newsletters written regularly, but don’t have the time or inclination, you can find a fair priced copywriter to write for you, with the key objectives of  keeping your name and brand out there as well as enhancing your SEO.