Why Social Media? Why Not?

Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in what we do with social media as a company and we forget there are a number of people out there who still don’t understand the value that social media brings. Although I am reminded of that every time I reach out to a potential client regarding their social media or lack thereof, it is something that I am still surprised about when it happens.

The concept of social media began in 2004 with the launch of MySpace. I gave it a try because, hey, why not? It was interesting but not without flaws. But the cool thing was that I was able to catch up with some old friends and even make some new ones. I even had a friend named Tom that apparently was everyone’s friend.

Facebook came around but was only available initially to college students. But once that restriction was removed, it seemed as if everyone was signing up. It was great. Especially considering that it was the first of its kind, it provided us an opportunity to build a network of all types of groups. Facebook’s decision to expand off of college campuses also coincided with my high school reunion, so I ended up adding an entire network of people I mostly hadn’t seen in 20 years. Now, we can see what happens in each other’s lives daily. That had never been available before.

Since Facebook came on to the scene, we have been exposed to Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Google-Plus and many other various social media platforms. The funny thing is, our friends and business associates will tell us they don’t use social media. Or at least frequently. However, the data tells us they aren’t being truthful. An estimated 1.23 billion users log on to Facebook daily, and it has been determined that four out of five Americans use at least one social media platform.

If I went to a client or a potential client and told them there was a way to inexpensively reach 80 percent of the market, they would be salivating at the opportunity. But for some reason, there still seems to be some resistance to join the social media movement. The bottom line is, if you aren’t using social media for your business, you are telling the consumers or your potential target markets to choose your competitors.

It is actually baffling that there are businesses out there that haven’t at least created a Facebook page. Polling has told us that consumers expect businesses to have a presence on at least three social media outlets even if the consumer may only review one or two of them. Want to throw away potential business? Continue treating social media as if it is a trend that will eventually go away.

We can tell you that not everyone uses social media the same. If you are needing to target teenagers, Facebook might not be as effective as Instagram and Snapchat. Should soccer moms be your focus, Facebook and Pinterest might be better for you. But, as we generally recommend, it is always wise to start with Facebook and to maintain that business page.

Once you’ve got a page created – which we can do for you – it is vitally important that you continue to stay active. You need to keep your page visitors exposed to what keeps your business relevant. And if you don’t have the time or interest in doing this, that is where Jupiter Promotions comes in. We do the work for you. We track the trends. We do the research. We schedule the updates.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to use social media. I personally don’t know how to use satellites to create a cell phone signal but it didn’t stop me from purchasing a smart phone. Let the professionals do the work and you can sit back and enjoy the results.

So, stop telling us you don’t need a presence on social media. Your consumers disagree and they are right.