Chapter 4 - Social Media "Be My Friend"

My Father lived in Texas, it was the greates thing to hear that sound of the IM when he'd contact me. No more long distance phone charges and no more waiting for an email reply back. Immediately social networking began with time direct conversations between family and friends. These were also set up so that you could have numerous people on at the same time. Now using similar technology we have texting, twitter, blogs and facebook to name a few that instantly keep us connected. Of course these tools while giving us easy communication abilities should still be looked upon as unguarded, not censored private thoughts that not place our views and opinions to the entire public.The web is constantly reviewed by parties looking for negative posted communications that can jeopardize a persons employment.



1. Turning customers off with your personal beliefs – In an attempt to show customers your human side, you run the risk of alienating or offending them with your opinions and beliefs. This is especially true if you decide to discuss politics or religion. A simple Tweet talking about your support for a certain candidate or a policy can upset some of your customers and cause them to boycott your business. That’s why I recommend staying away from sensitive issues whenever possible.
2. Overlooking the importance of print – Sure, the number of people who get their information from blogs and social networks is constantly increasing. However, that doesn’t mean you should write off the print media altogether. Coverage in a major newspaper or magazine can still provide some great results for your company, so be careful not to get overly obsessed with the novelty of social media.
3. Decreasing your productivity – One of the biggest dangers of social media is that it can quickly transform from a powerful marketing tool into a huge time waster. You need to make sure you outline social media goals and a plan for how you’re going to reach them. Once you have a plan in place, make sure all of your social media activities are in line with this plan so you don’t end up wasting hours doing nothing.
4. Worsening your customer service – Ideally, social media can improve your customer service. JetBlue, H&R Block, and Comcast are just a few examples of companies who’ve been successful using Twitter for light customer service tasks. However, if your business plans to do the same, you need to be careful. Make sure your employees are well-trained on how to provide customer service through Twitter, and be sure they understand how to not cross the line of being too informal (a huge danger with social media).
5. Burning yourself out too early – If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it a thousand times. A key decision maker at a company hears about this “hot social media thing”, and decides his company needs to start blogging and Tweeting. They blindly jump in with no plan, and blog and Tweet furiously for a few weeks. Of course, they don’t get any results because: 1) They don’t have a plan and 2) they don’t really know much about social media marketing. As a result, they get burnt out, proclaiming social media to be an overhyped waste of time. The reality is they never gave themselves a chance for it to work.

http://www.ereleases.com/prfuel/social-media-obsession/

http://www.oldapps.com/aim.php?old_aim=1

http://www.canstockphoto.com/illustration/social-media.html#file_view.php?id=7880430