Social Media Isn’t Always The Answer

We received a call recently from a long-time client who wanted us to come in and give them a crash course in “Social Media 101.” They had been hearing all about this newfangled medium and wanted to know more about it so they could assess its role in their marketing strategy moving forward. They, like many businesses, had heard that social media was the “next big thing” and felt an obligation to throw together the resources necessary to get on the bandwagon.

The problem is that in this particular instance, communicating through social media really didn’t make much business sense. A little bit of digging uncovered that of their target audience, 3.8% are on Linkedin, 18% are on Facebook, 11% are on Myspace, .4% are on Twitter and 71% didn’t belong to any online community at all. Their audience simply didn’t use these tools in a large enough number for it to provide a solid return on investment. They were much better suited focusing on other methods and mediums to communicate with their constituents. 

While I agree social media is changing the marketing communications landscape in many ways, I also believe it’s really important to remain media-neutral and not fall into the trap of doing social media just because you’ve heard that “everybody’s doing it.” What works for one brand may not be the solution for every brand. Weigh your goals and objectives and the media consumption habits of your audience and only then decide if it makes sense to commit to a coordinated social media effort.

Need help deciding if joining the conversation makes sense? We’re glad to help – write me at garret (at) sutter-group (dot) com.

by Garret Ohm

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