When is the Right Time to Engage in Social Media
Posted by Patrick Murphy on Tue, Mar 16, 2010
When is the right time to engage in Social Media?
There are a few common reasons why people tend to think why now is not the right time to engage in Social Media.
- My prospective clients aren't on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
- My business is doing well right now so I don't need to engage in Social Media and Inbound Marketing.
- Social Media takes up too much time.
There are obviously a lot more why now is not the right time to engage in Social Media but these are the three that I tend to hear the most. My first reaction is that I find it hard to believe that your clients are not on at least one of these social media sites - do they have the internet? My second thought is that we have probably just barely seen the light of day for those businesses that have survived this economic rollercoaster of a time - I wouldn't be too optimistic about being out of the woodworks yet! As for taking too much time - if you manage to use social media correctly, you do have the opportunity to ensure that it's not a time-suck for you. What I really think these excuses are about is the fear of learning new things.
Here is a great example of the right time to engage in Social Media. There is a fantastic American franchise company that opened in the Dundrum Shopping Center - The Counter. The concept is building your own burger with variations from top to bottom of what you would want in your burger. I happened to stumble upon this restaurant purely by fluke because it's tucked away in an area where most shoppers don't venture much to. On a very quiet Sunday evening a few months back I got talking to the restaurant manager who happened to mention that not many people were aware of where they were located and when they were busy they were really busy but when it was slow - it was really slow. Perfect fit for Social Media? I definitely think so!
Why was it the right time to engage in social media. The first thing most people will do is go online to see the reviews or the menu of a restaurant. The Counter is all about the experience. They have brought American choices to the Irish Market. They have a fantastic concept - topping of the month, burger of the month, dipping sauce of the month - This would be a perfect business to develop a fan base on Facebook where people could vote on their favorite "whatever" of the month, or tweet what they built on their burger the night before. You'll be surprised at the amount of people that would actually hop onto this as a fun thing to converse about.
So is the counter too busy for Social Media now that they are packed out the door on a Sunday evening? It's never too late to hear what your customers and fans are saying about you. Your business is never doing so well that you don't have room for improvement. We have an opportunity for a major growth potential, at very little cost compared to traditional outbound marketing. So if I were you, I wouldn't be counting my profits just yet and perhaps making a bit more effort to learn what's going on in the world, how people are communicating, what people are saying about you, and how people are learning and shopping today - Learn more about Social Media on our next webcast - 16 Tips for Lead Generation.