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Social Media is over-rated (and misunderstood)...

by rickkettner
7 replies
Social media is hugely over-rated, and I mean that in the most positive way possible .

Everybody seems to think that social media has completely changed the game, but it hasn't. It is just another platform for consumers to communicate their opinions... and gives you all the more reason to focus on proven business principles (like providing remarkable value).

The notion of connecting directly with fans on social media is a fad. I know not everyone will agree with me here, but the fact is... e-mail marketing is far more effective for communicating your message. Moreover, if you are delivering real value to your customers... then you can easily switch over to social media if it becomes more effective (true relationships are never platform specific).

It's great to encourage your customers to recommend you to their social circles. However, trying to connect with everyone directly is not an efficient use of your time (it's a one-off gimmick at best). Feel free to watch my video about this for more details - Social Media Misconceptions and Conan O'Brien.
#media #misunderstood #overrated #social
  • Profile picture of the author gubwell12
    I have wasted lot of time with social media and the conversions are really low.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bruce NewMedia
    I really haven't done a thing with social media. ...and so far I don't feel I've messed anything. Just my opinion.
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    • Profile picture of the author howinfo
      Originally Posted by brucerby View Post

      I really haven't done a thing with social media. ...and so far I don't feel I've messed anything. Just my opinion.
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      Even if you feel that you have not missed anything by NOT using social media I think you should still give it a try. It certainly can not hurt, Social media is still growing strongly and will be around for some time so it would be just a right time to start. And if you provide something valuable and interesting and it gets picked up by social media you would be surprised what it can do for your business.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    Um...Rick? It's usually frowned on to post links to your site in this part of the forum, except in your signature file, of course. You might want to move that link a wee bit south. Even in your signature file it might be frowned if you directly reference it in your post, since it's basically a method to get people to leave the forum and go to your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author PaulaC
    I find that social media takes a lot of work to be really successful. In my opinion, I don't really don't see the value in it compared to other methods.

    I have over 6000 followers in Twitter for one account but am really not sure what to do with them. When I was active with that account I still didn't get much traffic from it.

    I am sure social media has worked for many but as yet I haven't seen any value in it vs the amount of time and effort you have to put into it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nick Brighton
    Rick,

    With all due respect, I suggest you Google the following before making assumptions...

    "starbucks facebook case study"
    "starbucks twitter case study"
    "coca cola social media case study"

    ...and keep going for a few days.

    You'll discover a world of power in social media, when done right.

    The short version is that social media is an extremely powerful viral tool, with real time research which is nearly impossible to match in traditional R&D (especially cost wise).

    Plus, it's largely a branding tool...to establish trust and gain more mindshare. But again, look at the case studies of the big boys, and see how cleverly they integrate social media into their actual revenue generating operations, not just their branding and PR...

    ...the results are mind blowing, especially the StarBucks ideas. See how they used Twitter to run promotions, see how companies use FB to research and test, and it will open your eyes to the wonders on modern marketing online.

    I agree, email is a great way to communicate with prospects and customers, but to say social media is not effective or is over rated is a bit misplaced if you ask me.

    A better assumption would be, they are both powerful for different purposes, and especially when combined. Email marketing is much more a direct response tool than social media, and social media is much more a branding, PR and research tool.

    So the two are not really comparable.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    Nick, that's a fair point, but those big boys were big boys before they started using those social sites. They didn't become big boys because they use them. I think that's an important distinction to make.
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