Companies are always eager to nose-dive into Social Media.
If you're a small business owner, a Facebook or twitter account seems like a fantastic idea; a free utility in which you can advertise to a seemingly endless number of potential customers and clients. A nice product push here, and a little awareness-raising competition there, there's no end of ways to communicate and engage with your market.
However, as with the majority of free things, there's a downside.
Imagine, if you will, a potential client is in the market looking for a piece of software. There are two small, independent software developers (we'll call them A and B) offering similar software that this new potential client is looking for, and they both use Facebook to interact with their community.
Now, here's the scenario:
- Both websites sell their software at the same sort of price.
- Both are similar pieces of software.
- Both have FAQs, a forum and such on their sites.
- Software Developer A has a bustling Facebook page, over a thousand 'Likes,' comments, pictures, videos and regular comments.
- Software Developer B has a desolate Facebook page, 11 'Likes' and a handful of comments from 8 months ago.
Who would you choose?
I don't know about you, but if I, personally, was looking for a piece of software and presented with this scenario, I'd almost definitely go for the developer who has the active Facebook page. Why? Because it shows commitment, and, more importantly, it presents another useful way for me to get help and network with other users of the software.
The moral of the story is that, in our eyes, no Facebook page is better than a quiet, unattended, old and unused Facebook page. Why? It's the image it presents.
When you're setting out to gain some footing in the social networking community, stop, have a think, and decide whether you do in fact have the time and resources to invest in a social media platform, and treat it as any other project. Invest your time and efforts accordingly, and don't let it fall by the wayside.
