Social media can give your organization a direct line to customers, prospects, job candidates and business partners. But though opening an account is easy, maintaining one that delivers value takes time-consuming planning, posting and oversight. Before committing resources to social media platforms, determine whether they'll actually support your broader marketing strategy. Also decide whether you can manage the financial, legal and reputational risks of social media.
Social media is often described as inexpensive marketing, but it isn't free. Even without paid advertising, your business must devote worker time to creating content, responding to messages, monitoring comments and evaluating results. Paid campaigns, some design tools and outside marketing support generally add to the cost.
Measuring your return on investment can also be difficult. Likes and follower counts may signal engagement, but they don't necessarily translate into revenue. A more meaningful evaluation connects social activity to website visits, inquiries, sales appointments and purchases.
Other reasons to proceed cautiously exist. An inaccurate, controversial or poorly timed post can damage your reputation — and revenues. Employees could inadvertently disclose confidential information, misuse copyrighted material or make claims your business can't support. AI can accelerate content creation, but it also introduces new risks. If your posts are inaccurate, unoriginal or tone-deaf, they could alienate your audience. AI-generated content requires human review for accuracy, originality and brand consistency.
On the other hand, social media can offer substantial benefits. The right platforms can:
Social channels can further help your business share timely updates, demonstrate expertise and respond to customer questions.
Your business doesn't need a presence on every platform. Instead of spreading yourself too thin, select channels that best match your audience, industry and content. A professional services firm may benefit from a platform centered on business networking, such as LinkedIn, while a retailer or restaurant may gain more from a visually oriented platform like Instagram. If your target audience is teenagers and young adults, you may want to eschew Facebook in favor of TikTok. In general, maintaining one or two strong accounts is more effective than spreading resources across several neglected ones.
Be sure to set specific objectives. Is your primary goal to generate leads? Improve customer service? Burnish your reputation? Increase website traffic? Once you have a goal or goals, establish a content schedule and assign specific employees to draft, approve, publish, monitor, and update or comment on posts. Keep the tone and visual style of your accounts consistent, regardless of who creates the content.
Also adopt a written social media policy that addresses such issues as employee participation, confidentiality, personal-account use, record retention, complaint handling and post approval. If employees, influencers or customers receive compensation or other benefits for endorsements on social media, the relationship generally must be disclosed according to Federal Trade Commission rules.
Your business needs to treat its social media accounts as valuable business assets. This means employing strong, unique passwords and multifactor authentication when accessing these accounts. In addition, strictly limit administrative privileges and remove access promptly when workers leave your organization. Your plan should also outline procedures for handling a compromised account or inappropriate post.
Monitor comments and direct messages regularly, but don't automatically delete criticism. Instead, respond promptly and professionally to negative comments and use the opportunity to try to engage and win over your detractor. That said, customer disputes involving sensitive information should be moved to a secure, private channel. And be sure to comply with applicable privacy, advertising, professional and industry-specific guidelines.
Social media can be an indispensable marketing tool, but only when it advances defined business goals and receives consistent oversight. Don't try to do everything at once. Start on a manageable scale, track meaningful data and compare your business's financial return with the full cost of content, advertising, technology and staff time. If the numbers don't support your effort, redirect resources to more effective channels. Your accounting advisors can help set a realistic budget and identify useful performance measures.
Get in touch today and find out how we can help you meet your objectives.
