02 7 / 2009
Fee or free: which social media strategy is right for your business?
Social media technology has made it very easy for people to share their opinions, rate favorite products, and communicate with others. This activity is happening every day, everywhere, and for practically every product that exists. No matter how big or small your company is, if you have customers, you can bet they’re talking about your brand or product somewhere. So what are you doing to influence that conversation?
If you’re a small business, you probably have limited budget and resources and you need to be sure any investment you make in social media is worthwhile. Does it make sense to pay for a branded online social networking site or can free public social sites deliver the same benefits? Where do you start? What do you need to know?
Before you start any social networking marketing, it’s important to identify your goals. Why should your business take part in social media? There are many reasons for small businesses to adopt a social networking marketing strategy, including:
- Increase brand awareness for your company
- Drive improved customer relationships and better corporate reputation
- Gain a better understanding of emerging issues and trends
- Enhance product development and improvement efforts
- Generate increased sales and incremental revenue
In addition to your budget, it’s also important to think about your internal resources for creating content and maintaining the site; what kind of content you want; how much control you want to have over the content on your site; and whether monetization is important to you. The answers to these questions will help you determine your level of investment and which strategy is best for you.
In our next two posts, we will explore how businesses can use free and branded online communities to their advantage, but we would love to hear and incorporate your thoughts. Tell us, do you think it make sense to pay for a branded online community or can free public social sites, like Facebook and Twitter, deliver the same benefits?
