Can social media be bad for business?
Posted on: 09 Sep 2016
Later this month, our second Grow your Business with Social Media peer coaching round will begin. But before you jump on the social media wagon, it’s important to understand that there are times when social media can be good for business and there are times when social media can be bad for business.
Digital marketing specialist, Lara Wellman, explains when small businesses should invest time in using social media:
GOOD REASONS
✓ You’re interested in building relationships with your customers (actual and potential);
✓ You want to be a part of the conversation;
✓ You want to listen to your customers;
✓ You want to be available to your customers in the places they hang out and provide them information in the way they like to receive it.
✓ You want to be a part of the conversation;
✓ You want to listen to your customers;
✓ You want to be available to your customers in the places they hang out and provide them information in the way they like to receive it.
BAD REASONS
✗ You think it is the magic answer to your ultimate success;
✗ You think everything you say will spread far and wide as soon as you start writing it;
✗ You think it will make you rich and famous;
✗ You think it can stand alone.
✗ You think everything you say will spread far and wide as soon as you start writing it;
✗ You think it will make you rich and famous;
✗ You think it can stand alone.
When you engage in social media for the wrong reasons, it can actually be bad for business. Typically you end up wasting your valuable time and undermining relationships with your audience rather than building them. However, if you align with the good reasons for using social media in your business, then social media could become one of your most effective means of growing your business.
Even if you do share the good reasons for using social media in your business, it can be challenging to create a social media presence when you’ve got no or little previous experience. You can waste a lot of time and when you look back on your attempts, embarrassment is not uncommon!
This is why we created the Grow your Business with Social Media peer coaching round. Based on Lara Wellman Digital Marketing’s, Simple Start program, this round combines Lara’s Simple Start workbook and email support lessons with the power of peer coaching.
Here’s what past participants said about their experience in this round:
“The Social Media round is great if you would like to learn how to use social media to grow your business and truly connect with potential clients.”
“The coaching rounds with a specific theme offer the opportunity to gain a different perspective from your client as you go through the same process with your coach. Overall a very rewarding experience!”
“I am building my website with valuable content and research. Thus establishing me as an expert.”
“Try it, you will not be disappointed.”
What else can you expect from participating?
- If your social media presence is completely absent or inconsistent, you can expect to have a very consistent social media presence, as a result of participating in this round.
- If you are not yet posting to your social media channels regularly, or at all, you can expect to come away from this round posting several times a week, as well as watching likes and fielding comments.
- If you do not yet have a planned social media strategy, you can expect to be very well planned, with posts scheduled up to a month (or more) in advance, on completion of this round.
NOTE: The above expectations are based on actual reported results from participation in this round.
The Grow your Business with Social Media peer coaching round will walk you through learning how to connect, promote, endorse, engage, and interact with your clients and potential clients. While focused on Facebook and Twitter, the strategies from the Grow your Business with Social Media peer coaching round can be applied to any social media platform. Click here to find out more about our Grow your Business with Social Media reciprocal peer coaching round.
I still need to work on the consistency of my own social media strategy, so if I don’t prioritise that before this round starts, I’ll be joining it too! If you also recognise that your social media presence still leaves a lot to be desired, click here to register now. Registrations close on September 25. Note: If you have previously participated in the Grow your Business with Social Media peer coaching round and would like to participate again for free, email us now.
Written by Kerryn Griffiths, PhD, PCC and Global ReciproCoach Coordinator