Get serious about social media

Okay, maybe it is silly. Maybe it’s a fad. Maybe social media is no more than a brief stop on the road to somewhere else.

Maybe.

Then again, maybe not.

As I become more and more enmeshed in the world of social media, I find myself more and more surprised at how many of you — especially you cautious not-for-profit groups — remain hesitant about getting on board

This is a mistake.

While social media might not be here to stay, it certainly is here for now, and failing to take part in a serious way means both failing to reach new donors, contacts and community members, and failing to stay relevant in the contemporary marketplace. It just doesn’t make sense.

We’ve already posted a lot about getting a handle on the world of social media.

• We’ve introduced you to the major channels.
• We’ve taught you the basics of Twitter.
• We’ve given you the skinny on automating to save time and labour.
• And we’ve talked to you about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) until we’re blue in the face.

Yet some of you still aren’t on board.

And with that in mind, I wanted to post today about the importance of taking social media seriously. If you’re one of the organizations that remains unsold on the concept, or if you’ve tried it in a half-hearted way, with limited results, one of the reasons may be that you’re not treating your social media efforts as integral to your marketing strategy.

Social media isn’t a sprint. Despite its seeming immediacy, as time goes on and the medium evolves, we’re realizing more and more that true social media success comes only as a result of investment. Social media is a marathon! Who knew? So in order to make the most of it, you need to invest (by spending time updating your accounts, responding to tweets and comments, and being as human as possible in every interaction you have online. You need to spend time online, being “real.”) And you need to be patient.

The bottom line is this: if you treat your social media efforts lightly, you won’t see results. And, for the record, even if you take social media seriously, it’s not a magical way to solve your marketing problems. It’s just one tool in your marketing tool box.

And if you’re an old-fashioned type and all this social media chatter is making you worry ... don’t. While social media may never replace many of your traditional media marketing efforts, you should still respect it enough to see it as a valuable part of your plan as a whole.

As I said initially, it doesn’t matter if it’s here to stay or not. What matters is that social media is here now. It’s time to come off the fence. Once you do, you’ll be better equipped to keep making the most of it as it continues to evolve, which it’s sure to do.

_{Fence image by Barb Ballard, SXC. Network cable image by Enzo Forciniti, SXC.}