Personally, I believe social media is only as good as your approach and the effort you apply. I’ve come across several different schools of thought. I have often seen people haphazardly creating profiles, adding one tool after another without any thought process about the type of ongoing maintenance it requires. It appears to me most people believe the more the marrier…. but I have to question is this truly the path to take? Although it may generate links…. but does it accomplish connection and loyalty? Isn’t social media all about being “social” and interactive?
In my research, there is one E-book I came across that has made me really think about how to structure social media campaigns. John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing teamed up with Microsoft Office Live Small Business to create a very easy to understand e book that covers everything you need to know. Let’s Talk: Social Media for Small Businesses is comprehensive and simple to read. In fact, I’ve recommended this e-book to friends, business owners, business associates and all staff at Green Seed Web Design.
Why do I like this book so much? In his book, John explains how social media is like a pyramid (similar to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Nature) where one platform feeds into another. He believes that blogging is the first step into the world of social media for most small businesses. At first, I thought… “Ok, he’s a professional blogger, of course he recommends that!”
Then a few weeks ago, I wrote an article about interconnecting social media. In that research I realized that my blog can connect with so many different platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Where connecting Twitter with LinkedIn or Facebook —> Twitter was more of a challenge.
If I put all in my eggs in let’s say Twitter, but at the same time did not have or neglected my blog – I have to ask would a potential reader fully understand our message? Would microblogging generate loyal followers and interested readers? Would a Facebook page really connect with others outside of our friends? Where with a blog, readers have more information, can receive automatic updates, find out how we think and learn more about the services we provide. So after my research and reading John’s e-book a light bulb came on… and it made sense to me why blogging was such a critical piece of social media and should be the foundation BEFORE any other social media is approached.
If you are a small business interested in the powers of social media, I highly recommend taking the time to read this e-book. You can download here for FREE at Duct Tape Marketing.
Happy Reading!
Kimberly at greenseedwebdesign.com