The experience is not unlike having your first child. You decide you want a baby (Facebook or Twitter page) and you go through the simple (and let's hope somewhat exciting) process of creating one. You post photos and all your friends coo at your pretty new creation. Sometime in the not too distant future when you're losing sleep and the baby is fussy and demanding you wonder why you ever signed up for this and - trust me on this one - you actually audibly utter "why didn't this thing come with a manual?".
Here's where we come to the big difference between the baby and the fan page...you abandon the fan page. Your 'cyber-baby' and all its admirers are left to fend for themselves on the world wide interweb...your fans abandon you back and you explain that 'social media' wasn't the right fit for your business.
Saying that social media isn't the right tool for your business is like saying that you don't value word of mouth. And in every sales meeting I have ever attended, every owner/manager I have questioned (short of a few extremely bizarre situations - but that's another blog entirely) word of mouth is always one of their most important marketing tools.
In today's digital marketplace social media can become the very tool that gives your strongest supporters their own personal soap box. Look at the Starbucks Fan Page - over 6.5 million fans and 40 wall posts per hour from social experiments to tips for your next barista beverage to downright gushing over one's love for the cafe giant. OK..so they are an international giant...let's take a look at this on a slightly smaller level...
Offspring Baby in Cambridge, Ontario. Fantastic small baby gear store with personal service by moms who truly love what they do. 159 fans...slick, almost candy-like imaging....a few wall posts a week...but every mom in their fan club knows that the new Baby Banz are in - and if they don't need any this year I guarantee you they will tell their mom-friends who do! Offspring relies on more than a fan page for their business, they are strategically smart in much of their marketing, and this is a logical extension of their brand that allows their supporters to participate in their business, even if spit up and nap-time prevent them from visiting the store today.
Facebook and Twitter can replace the need for creating and maintaining costly e-mail opt-in lists, or will make those lists more effective by providing you with multi-touch points. And don't be afraid to promote your social media pages in store and in your other media to encourage new fans and followers. The more the merrier! So manual or no manual, take the leap into social media. Be patient, you'll have to crawl before you walk...but once your up and running you'll be glad you stuck with it.
