7 reasons your business is not ready for social media

You don’t know what you’re using it for.

Social media is often the subject of ‘shiny object syndrome’. People gravitate to its newness, its promises of success and its buzz. Problem is most of these people don’t get the results they’re looking for. A recent study by Network Solutions and the University of Maryland reports that social media adoption by U.S. small businesses doubled from 12% in 2008 to 24% in 2009. However, over one-quarter (26%) of users say it has fallen short of expectations. One-half (50%) of small business users say it has used up more time than expected. Some 17% say it has resulted in allowing people to criticize their business. All of these challenges can be addressed by having a strategy. A strategy ensures you know what you’re looking to achieve, who you’re looking to speak to and where and how they spend their time online, what potential risks are and how you can mitigate them.

You believe it’s a ‘marketing thing’.

The word ‘media‘ is misleading as it’s associated with instruments of mass advertising (i.e. television, newspapers, magazines), considered marketing channels. In fact, social media touches virtually every department of an organization. People use social media to talk about what they love, hate, desire, what they’re experiencing, reading, watching (etc). Customers interact with your business on many different levels – they call in and speak with your receptionist, they receive invoices from your accounting department, they interact with your installation crew, and so on. None of these fall under marketing. Yet, these may be the very things your customers talk about when they mention your business online. From IT to CEO to PR, everyone in the organization needs to be ready for social media.

Yipee! It’s free!!

Alright, if you screamed in delight at the thought of moving your advertising budget over to social media and saving your business tens of thousands, think again. Yes, it can cost nothing to be successful in social media. Heck, Blendtec went viral with an initial investment of $50. But time + resources = money (and you need both to be successful).

You haven’t quite gotten around to discussing it with Senior Management.

In order for social media to be successful in an organization, it has to be readily embraced by the organization’s leaders. Social media is a mindset, it’s a cultural shift…it’s more than just an activity. Ensure executives not only know what social media is, but what it needs to be successful, that it’s a long-term initiative, that it requires investment of time and resources and that it will likely require their contribution.

You can’t wait to try out a new channel that will let you tell everyone about your company.

Go directly to jail. If you’re looking for a new tool to provide updates about your company, social media is not for you. Unlike ‘traditional’ forms of media – television, newspaper, magazine, radio, billboard, etc – which interrupt consumers, social media is opt-in. People choose whether or not to connect with you. That means that the only way you can reach a consumer is to offer something of value that they want to hear. The moment you continually spam people with you-centric information is the moment people stop listening. Social media harkens a new age of communications. One that requires…gasp…dialogue.

You’re still banning your employees from using Facebook at work.

This is a controversial point. There are an overwhelming number of companies that still ban their employees from using Facebook and other sites at work. Their fears – that employees will waste away the day playing with their friends and that, while representing work, they will say something inappropriate about work. Organizations need to clearly outline social media policies. Just like you have policies for dress code, ethics and interactions with other employees, social media requires guidelines and expectations. Another consideration is training. Many successful company incorporate social media in their employee training processes. Setting a tone of trust with a framework is necessary to encourage positive social media interactions.

You have no plans for feedback implementation.

Social media is one of the best ways to gather customer insights. By participating, you’re inviting feedback – positive, negative and everything in between. This is a tremendous opportunity for businesses to understand why their customers buy from them, why prospective customers don’t and what problems and solutions sets your business apart from the crowd. Why flounder this opportunity by not preparing your business to listen to and implement changes from feedback? I encourage companies to go back to point #2 and involve all facets of the organization in social media preparedness. Feedback should be collected and reviewed with an open mind. Two companies who are the gold standard in feedback implementation are Starbucks and Comcast.