Social media isn’t going anywhere and for many of us, myself included, large parts of our careers are now based off being on many online platforms. It can create networking opportunities and brand growth that a generation ago could never be imagined, but there is still an issue in the way that many view it. Business owners have finally realized they can’t avoid it, but still do not have the slightest clue on what to do with it.
Many business owners think they can just hire someone to do social media, and to that effect you can. There are many out there that can grow your following, add more followers and send those impersonal and slightly obnoxious Twitter messages for you. Having a poorly managed or less than engaging social media account can be worse than not having a presence at all.
Social Media expert and the founder of social media management company CobbesMedia, Calvin Wayman is all too familiar with this problem. Wayman holds a strong belief that the entrepreneur should be doing things on social media that cannot be scheduled or optimized because that will be what makes you stand out and account for real brand building.
When adding new connections Facebook, he sends each a personalized voice message to each person; a personal touch is what creates real fans and shows you to be not just another entrepreneur trying to collect as many likes as possible.
Want to hire someone to schedule a Hootsuite for you and consider that social media? If that’s your approach, then yes, social media has no ROI for you. Social media is about creating a movement, it is about a following that is the true embodiment of Simon Sinek’s “Golden Circle;” it is not advertising. It’s funny that many business owners try to hold social media to the same type of ROI based statistics that many magazines tout in their media guides, many of which they can back up either.
It’s funny that many business owners try to hold social media to the same type of ROI based statistics that many magazines tout in their media guides, many of which they can back up either.
Business owners haven’t quite grasped how social media works and that to really be effect they cannot take a “hands off” approach. The social media hat can be worn by others later on, but it starts with you: the goal maker and the personality of the business.
Gary Vaynerchuk continues to be the best example of this fact in action. Everything Wine Library and Vaynermedia started with Gary, it has his personality, voice and unique flavor. What Gary would say is so well engrained in the brand that he is able to give much of it up to his team and it is still unique content that feels like Gary created it. Now, Vaynerchuk still creates a ton of content, but others are able to do it for him and it still feels like he is creating content as long as a Tolstoy novel.
If a business owner truly grasps that to have real effect social media has to start with them, then they will not just create more business but a high-level awareness campaign for their brand they never thought possible. It’s your vision, someone else can help you shape it and run it but it always comes back to you. When a business owner buys into social media, that’s when the real success happens. As much as we’d like to, you just cannot automate the human experience. Social media success feels authentic and not just like another autoresponder, start small to be big.
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