Ask Aunt May: Social Media – What’s Right For You?

Posted on February 17th, 2010 by Aunt May

Dear Aunt May,

I keep hearing about social media and how I should be participating to market my business. That it’s free and everyone is doing it. There’s so much hype and pressure to conform, but I just don’t see how spending all my time on sites like Twitter and Facebook is going to help my retail business thrive. I already have too much to do and too little time – do I really need to do this too?

Wallflower, Calgary Alberta.

Dear Wallflower;

It’s like my mama always said. If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?

Kudos to you for thinking clearly and asking smart questions before jumping in at the social media deep-end. Used properly, social media can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool. Used carelessly, it can be a time-wasting drug more powerful than any narcotic you were ever offered in high school.

You say yours is a retail business. Before spending a moment on Facebook, make sure your own four walls are in order. Do you have a professional website that supports your store’s position in the market? Have you built a marketing list of loyal customers? Do you sell products online? And do you have an effective search strategy in play? If you do, then it’s time to wade carefully into the shallow end of social media.

Social networks are simply websites that enable people to come together over a common interest or interests. Facebook, the current market leader, provides ways for people to connect regardless of distance. They might join a group interested in cooking or photography or travel. Become fans of a band and connect with other fans around the world. Or reconnect with lost friends from high school, university or past jobs. Whatever the reason your customers are there, your reason is a simple one too. You need to expose your brand to the people who might buy your products.

The concept is really very simple and not at all new – birds of a feather flock together. That means that the people who are your customers in the real world are very likely to hang out with other people who might be good customers too. That’s a fact both online and offline. Social media allows you to reach deep into the social circles of your customers and let them know about your store, without ever actually intruding on their privacy.

How do you do it? Keep an eye on this blog for our upcoming series – The Ins and Outs of Social Media, starting with Social Media Myths Debunked coming later this month.

Aunt May

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