Squirrel – How to Resist the Shiny Object Syndrome of Social Media: 5 Questions To Ask Before Adding Or Jumping To A New Social Media Site
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, Delicious, Tumblr, WordPress, Instagram, flickr, Pinterest, Google+, MySpace, LittleMonsters…the names go on and on and will continue to grow from year to year. How do you have an effective social media marketing plan and still keep up?
Building a social media presence takes time and effort. Jumping from site to site and from plan to plan for the next shiny object (or squirrel) is confusing and dilutes your engagement & message. Social media is a marathon and not a sprint. It takes time and regular workouts (creating engagement). As I said in a previous blog, social media is all about being social. If you are just pushing a message out and then wondering why “social media isn’t working”, then you haven’t been doing the workouts needed to make the distance for the marathon. What I see too often is that business owners want the quick fix. They want to see instant results/sales by pushing out their message and forget to be social and engaging. Then, they wonder why they aren’t receiving results, the social network gets blamed, and off they go to a new site.
In my opinion, it is best to keep your social media marketing plan as simple as possible. Should you jump to the “next” social media networking site? I am of the mind that you build a profile and spend some time “listening” to how others are using the site. After a time of evaluation, then determine if the site is right for you and your business. Keep in mind though, don’t stop your efforts on the site or sites that you are currently engaging on. The new shiny object may be getting all of the attention, but don’t dismantle what you already have going.
5 Questions to ask before adding or jumping to a new social media site:
- How does this social network fit into my current marketing strategy?
- Does this new social network best match my business and business goals?
- Will this new social network help my business?
- Where is my target audience? Are they using this social network?
- Is spending time keeping the new social network updated the best use of my time?
Before scrapping your current marketing strategy, be sure you are making a good decision. As I said earlier, it is okay to join a new network and sit back and listen for a while to see if it is a good match for you and your clientele. I highly recommend it. Just don’t start chasing squirrels when you should be concentrating on what is currently in your own back yard.
Do you go for the shiny new object or do you wait to see what others are doing with it first?
*Image credit: michaelmill / 123RF Stock Photo
