Let’s put it out there, it is not overstating things to say that social media has changed the world. Along with the web and mobile, social media has changed how we communicate. More than that, it has changed how we behave and that in turn is changing the world of business. Today every business needs to make social media a part of their strategy. That raises two key points:

1. For those of you posting for your business without a social strategy stop immediately!  We have a saying in the Connect Plus offices, “Doing social media is easy. Aligning your social investment to business goals to drive desired outcomes takes more than a pretty Facebook page”
2. And no, your most visual digital platform is not something to hope the receptionist or your teenage child can handle, we know they’re young and those young people know about this social media thing, it's cheaper and it will give them more to do. Yes, okay, that sounds plausible. But, believe it or not, it could be one of the biggest mistakes you and your business can make!

Let us make this as succinct as possible. Your social media presence is almost always your customer's first impression of you online. After a google search, guess where they go? To your social media pages. It is an online window into your business. How you operate, how you treat your customers, how you interact with negative comments or reviews. That is a lot of responsibility for anyone without professional social media experience. Because 1. They do not know how to manage social media for a business and 2. They do not know enough about your business to authentically represent you.

A good social media strategy drives people to your website, increases conversions and makes you look like an industry leader. A bad social media strategy makes you look unhelpful, uneducated and it irritates your customers. When your customers decide to use social media as an outlet to complain or ask questions, will your receptionist/child know enough to handle those problems? Will they know when to answer those queries directly and when to direct them to your customer service department? Or will your customers get ignored, and turn, frustrated, to your competitors.

It is 2017. If you haven't caught on yet with the concept of social media for your business and the importance of it, then you will be handing the keys to newbies. They will be managing each of your social media platforms and you will wonder why you can't get social media to work for you when everyone else can.

So why don't you take social media as serious as you would any other form of communication to your customers?!

Social media deserves and demands your respect. Accept the things you know, and the things you don’t and understand that social media has the power to market your business, engage with customers and completely and totally influence the public perception of your hard work.

There is nothing wrong with asking employees to engage in social media with you. It can be a great help and valuable tool. But do your business a favour and make sure you leave the social media management to a team of professionals.

So let’s have a chat about your social media marketing. Connect with us today and unleash the power of what social media can deliver your business.