Fluxus Consulting asks Social Media? What are you scared of??

A couple of recent experiences talking to potential clients about social strategies brought us a few things so I thought I'd share them with you, social media is not terrifying, honestly! The top 4 objections I have had are below, hopefully the gentle advice included will help some people wavering on the subject think about it in a better light!

Why are you scared of Social Media?

For a huge number of businesses ìsocialî is still a dirty word conjuring up all sorts of images that will damage them and bring the company into disrepute. Well, here are the top 4 blocks to Social as I see it.

1- Social Media wastes my staff's time
We have all heard it, we have all seen it and in all probability, if you work for a large corporate then you'll have it in place.. The dreaded block on Social Media channels (though lets face it, they can't block them all, how long did it take most to cotton on to Twitter??). The big question is why block one channel and not all? A company I used to work with blocked access to Facebook and myspace as a bit of a knee jerk but I did point out to them that they had recently allowed most of their staff to have smartphones as their company mobiles (and those without a work phone invariably had a smartphone anyway)... so people just went to social sites through their phone.

With the way people use the internet these days it really is stupid to try and stop it, are you going to take phones from people and check what they are doing when they are on lunch, or even in the toilet (hey, we've all looked at the internet in there!).

The value to workers of having Internet access - in terms of research, communication, and speed - is far greater than the threat of lost productivity. Sure, make some policies and guidelines for internet usage and what you post but don't just stop it. You never know, you may have a really well read blogger working for you who is helping your company's brand without you even knowing!

2- Social media is expensive!!
OK, the tools to do most things are free but knowing what you are doing is another thing entirely, some people profess to be ìexpertsî and will fill your mind full of things you probably don't need.. The people to look for are those that don't say they are experts, lets face it this media is changing so rapidly that keeping up is a full time job in itself. Perhaps look for evangelists, people who rhapsodise about social and who ACTUALLY use it to some effect other than vanity.

Integrating a social strategy into the overall marketing and advertising strategy is not an easy thing to do but when done right it adds so much it IS worth doing.

If you are doing it then please do it right! The web is littered with half baked community sites, employer brand ideas that never went anywhere and blogs that never get filled up! Make sure you get someone good on board who really knows their stuff and who can really help. Yes it may cost but how much were you going to spend on traditional advertising this year???

Just remember what Geoff Livingstone said:

Parroting and/or reporting what you see on the Internet does not equate to actual savoir faire. Nor does it make someone fit to offer insights or counsel.

3- Social Media will damage our brand!
What if someone says something nasty???

Trust me, someone is, just because you can't hear them doesn't mean it's not happening, ex client, ex employee, rival company, they are all out there and no, it's not paranoia. What they say, how strongly they say it and to who really depends on you, if your brand is being damaged by these conversations you really need to manage them and make some changes.

If you build a community of people who have positive opinions and experiences of you then they will defend your brand for you but if they don't have a channel to express that then there is nothing to stop the damage being done.

There are instances where employees damage your brand but it's how you respond to that that can really set you apart. If you are monitoring the buzz around your business you should be able to recognise threats almost as quickly as you recognise opportunities.

4- We'll lose control of our brand.
I said it before and I'll say it again, they are already talking about you, blogging, tweeting etc. are all really easy things to do, anyone with half a brain and over the age of about five can set themselves up and start talking about whatever they want

Russ Klein, president for global marketing, strategy and innovation at Burger King: As consumers ìwrest control away from brand-management control freaks,î he advised his peers, ìget over it,î because ìturning your brand over to the consumer is taking control - and in fact, if you do, theyíll return it to you in better shape.î

Face it, you don't have control anymore, so it's just better to join the conversation and get involved.

If you monitor effectively and you know where people are talking and about what then you can tap into the most honest and effective marketing resource available.

Fluxus Consulting is an Employer Branding, Social Recruiting and Sales Strategy consultancy launched in 2009 by Matt Burney (former UK Territory Manager of Onrec) who advise large and small businesses across the UK, US and Europe. If you would like to discuss our services please contact us through our website: www.fluxusconsulting.com or for comments about our blog please email blogger@fluxusconsulting.com.