Is Social Media Right for My Business? Part II

by Robin Rath in Blog, Homepage Blog, Social Media on September 08, 2010

In “Is Social Media Right or My Business? Part I”, we talked about what to think about before jumping into social media for your business and some general guidelines for the common social networks. In Part II, we will look at common industries and how they are using social media and online marketing.

The key is that social media is not just an ecommerce or “fun” business trend. Social media is another channel of communication and businesses are using this channel strategically to support their overall marketing goals. Social media is here to stay, and if it’s not being widely used among your regional competitors currently, chances are it will soon be a part of their online marketing. St. Louis businesses are quickly growing their social media efforts, so if you are in the St. Louis area (or any city for that matter), we recommend putting your social media strategy in place to stay in line or ahead of your competition.

Below is a breakdown of some key industries. Feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments below for any industries that are not covered here.

Is Social Media Right for My Business? Part I

by Robin Rath in Blog, Social Media on February 26, 2010

If you haven’t already realized it, social media takes a solid strategy and a lot of time to provide real business value – if you think it doesn’t then you should highly reconsider jumping in. What takes so much time? Well, being successful on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and a company blog is all about producing valuable content, not just establishing a presence on these services. Valuable content is what establishes your company as an authority in the space, and creates a reason for people to become your fan or watch your video; and valuable content takes time to create.

So with that fact sorted out, the question for small business owners becomes “How can I leverage social media for my business when I don’t have a lot of time or money to throw at it?” Here are some things you should ask yourself before diving in.