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So you're thinking - everybody is on social media. All you hear about is your competitor's Facebook page and your sales manager is raving about Twitter. You can't swing a proverbial dead cat without running into a guru or expert who wants you to take your business social.

You aren't ignorant to the potential benefits of social or a Luddite either but you also aren't quite ready to commit your company to social media yet.

Don't feel guilty.

social media marketing not quite ready

Don't worry you are going to miss the wave. Embrace your feelings and take your time. Worrying about the what, how and who you intend to engage are legitimate concerns. Like all other forms of marketing, social media marketing requires a plan. A recent eMarketer report suggests 52% of companies are doing social media marketing and have no plan. That sounds like 52% of companies whose social media efforts are doomed to failure.

Setting up Twitter accounts, creating Facebook pages, or launching a company blog are worthy endeavors. But if you start you can't stop and then what? Social media is permanent and if you lose interest and tail off, the whole world knows.

Once you take the time gain a following, what does it say about your brand and your business when you just stop? It's kinda like working really hard to get an appointment with someone and than not showing up...or ever calling again.

Equally as bad is spending time and energy on social and not generating a single lead, having a meaningful conversation or igniting any interest because you didn't really have anything to say. You went out to the world, the world looked and then decided you weren't worth it.

It is tough enough to engage an audience and so re-engaging with people who already think you have nothing to say is even harder. Take your time and good things will result.

Ok so now that you are over your guilt about not rushing in to social media - it's time to make a plan.
It's time to figure out how to use social best for your organization and how it fits into your marketing strategy. Remember social isn't a strategy onto itself, it is a marketing channel or activity that is part of your overall marketing strategy. 

In our next blog post we will cover how you can approach developing a plan for social media marketing.

Photo by Roberto Bouza.Available under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License

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Topics: b2b, marketing, social media