Well, yes it is but don’t be too concerned; like everything you need to do it at your pace, so it’s best not to compare yourself with other more established businesses that have been on board with Social Media longer.
Social Media IS important because your competition and in fact most people who engage with people in any way ARE on social media. Word of mouth is great but Social Media has been growing very rapidly as the next new “word of mouth.”
One of the most important things to remember is that to be seen, liked and followed, you need to engage and to engage is time consuming. If you check out Social Media savvy people like Richard Branson you will see that he is a prolific communicator and that he posts all his own stuff himself; of course other stuff he will get others to do but with his own stuff, there is a particular flavour.
So, you will need to bring your own flavour to your Blogs, posts and social media participation and for this you will need to set up, generally speaking Twitter, Business Twitter page, Facebook Page, LinkedIn, LinkedIn page and Google +
Social media is an opportunity to gain sector and competitive insight, see what everyone else is doing and particularly what the leading people and businesses in your space are doing.
A real advantage to social media involvement is that you can be seen as being a relevant business in your space and when it comes to recruiting it’s a real way of getting rock star talent. If you don’t come on board with the Social Media side of business, you risk getting left behind and further, there is no doubt that you will also find it harder to keep up with trends and new developments in your industry.
Because the younger generations have adopted Social Media so readily might cause you to think that it’s too late, but don’t worry, the primary thing to remember is that social media can be fun and it should be explored like any tool as the way the world is moving and that through it great things can happen. Simply enjoy the ride as another opportunity to embrace the shifting sands of business and dip your toes into the water, it’s not so cold.
If you’re ready to start, then look at what other businesses are doing and see that it’s a great way to engage the audience and it is “audience” that you want right?
If I had to put one word to social media it would be “ENGAGEMENT.”
To Your Business Health
Cheers
Chris Borrett
Image Credit: FreeImages.com/Mihai Eustatiu
If by chance, you have not encountered my previous posts outside this blog, one of my favourites is about “How To Make A Decision and Stick To It”. You have the luxury of reading it by clicking here.