The Growing Contingent of Social Media "Disgust"
In giving my marketing presentation (especially in front of older audiences), a theme has developed. A contingent of the audience has what I'll call the folded-arm social media "disgust" attitude. The demographic here usually consists of those whose hair (how shall we say) has grayed. They don't accept social media, and most of these folks don't even know what to post or more importantly "why" they should post at all.
Social media has become a lynchpin to my marketing mix. For me not to post on social media I would be missing a tremendous and valuable percentage of the market segment. Now the gray-haired naysayers who typically look at me almost with an incredulous disdain when I say it's mission critical to have a social media presence don't seem to understand social media in general nor do they even want to deal with it.
The next contingent of naysayers will look at me with their eyes glazed over and push back by saying, "Who has time?" My general response is that 50 to 75 percent of your business should be spent on marketing your business. What time are we talking about? Time to spend the entire afternoon liking and commenting on everything down to your friend's skin-care products? My response to the time question is that you can't avoid it based on lack of time, put it in your daily marketing activities, and then here is the tip: don't spend more than 15 minutes in the morning posting and 15 minutes in the late afternoon. Add it to your daily routine, but discipline your time spent. I admit I can get caught up in the chatting too, but keep your business hat on and keep it all business. If you want to socialize do it after hours.
As for those who don't have any idea "what" to post, strike a balance between professional and personal. People want to like who they work with. So mention family activities, events and general comments. When something does relate to business, make comments or posts accordingly. Don't do too much of any one thing: not too much personal and not too much professional. And yes, even if you own a chain of dry cleaners I'm certain you can come up with interesting comments. Do you know the average person leaves their dry cleaning at the cleaners for two weeks? See what I mean. Or how about tips to get nasty stains out on your own. Funny things you've seen and observed. Ideas about management of employees. Stories about life. Subject material exists if you'll just think about it. So go forth and "social-media-ize"!
Social media has become a lynchpin to my marketing mix. For me not to post on social media I would be missing a tremendous and valuable percentage of the market segment. Now the gray-haired naysayers who typically look at me almost with an incredulous disdain when I say it's mission critical to have a social media presence don't seem to understand social media in general nor do they even want to deal with it.
The next contingent of naysayers will look at me with their eyes glazed over and push back by saying, "Who has time?" My general response is that 50 to 75 percent of your business should be spent on marketing your business. What time are we talking about? Time to spend the entire afternoon liking and commenting on everything down to your friend's skin-care products? My response to the time question is that you can't avoid it based on lack of time, put it in your daily marketing activities, and then here is the tip: don't spend more than 15 minutes in the morning posting and 15 minutes in the late afternoon. Add it to your daily routine, but discipline your time spent. I admit I can get caught up in the chatting too, but keep your business hat on and keep it all business. If you want to socialize do it after hours.
As for those who don't have any idea "what" to post, strike a balance between professional and personal. People want to like who they work with. So mention family activities, events and general comments. When something does relate to business, make comments or posts accordingly. Don't do too much of any one thing: not too much personal and not too much professional. And yes, even if you own a chain of dry cleaners I'm certain you can come up with interesting comments. Do you know the average person leaves their dry cleaning at the cleaners for two weeks? See what I mean. Or how about tips to get nasty stains out on your own. Funny things you've seen and observed. Ideas about management of employees. Stories about life. Subject material exists if you'll just think about it. So go forth and "social-media-ize"!
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