Is Your Business Truly "Social"?

by Rodney Noran

There is so much being said about Social Media and Social Media Platforms that it often seems that there's nothing left to be said. But for every viral social campaign there are hundreds of companies and individuals struggling with the reality of using Social to make a real impact on their business.

There are two questions you can ask yourself to understand if your business is truly Social:

What do you want to accomplish?

If you want to sell more products and that's it, you want advertising, not Social.
If you want to run a sale, you want promotion, not Social
If you want to know what your competitors are doing, you want Business Intelligence.

If you want to talk with your consumers and get them to talk with one another - you want Social.


How are you going to measure it?

Having a Facebook page is not "Social Media." Getting Likes is not "Social Media." Facebook is a platform on which you can engage your audience and turn them into a market. Any platform - Pinterest, Google+, a corporate website, can do this.

ROI requires I. Invest Time and/or Money to have a base measurement. What is a "Like" worth? Probably not all that much if it goes no further. Knowing when a "Like" turns into a sale and getting your consumers from Point A to Point B is not just a critical sales skill, it's an important Key Performance Indicator for your Social Media Strategy. Your ROI should not be your strategy.

On Being Social

Even more importantly, your Social Strategy should be about getting your consumers to Point C - where they cheerfully promote your business for you and tell their network about your promotions. Point C should be your goal.  When you reach your goal, you'll know that your business is truly Social.