When you attend a lot of Networking Meetings locally you often come across the same reasons that business don’t use Social Media
Now I’m not that young, I’m not what people describe as a millennial “a term used to refer to the generation, born from 1980 onward, brought up using digital technology and mass media; the children of Baby Boomers” – I’m a little too old for that at 34, but I understand the digital age and my very first paid job as a journalist was via a company in London noticing my posts on message boards and forums
What’s interesting though, is that these reasons aren’t just coming from the older generation, but actually younger entrepreneurs in business as well
So here are the 5 reasons you don’t use Social Media and my brief response
1. I don’t want to know what you’re having for breakfast
Umm – that’s funny because don’t Tesco’s, Sainsburys and all the businesses you shop in know exactly what their customers are doing.
Literally Tesco’s know what you have for breakfast, dinner, Tea… when you go on holiday, when your birthdays are… ladies they even know when it’s time of the month
Information is power and from a local business perspective surely it’s useful to build up a picture of your customers and what they are interested in
That way you don’t turn into the Emma Bunton of Social Media and try some trending subject marketing that your customers have zero interest in
2. I don’t have the time
Interesting that this always comes up in Networking Meetings. Those networking meetings that take 2 hours + an hour either side travelling
Networking meetings are really really valuable but if you have the time for offline networking you certainly have the time for Social Media
Put them both together and the combination between Business Networking Meetings and Social Media is invaluable
3. It’s just not for me
It’s might not be for you, but your customers certainly like it
Stats wise Facebook has over 30 million UK users (half the UK Population) and Twitter has over 10 million active UK Users (1 in 6 of the UK)
Not to be sniffed at and once you get used to using Social Media it really does become part of your natural daily flow and you miss it when you don’t get involved
4. We’re carrying on doing what we’ve always done
Back to what we said at the beginning of the blog about Millennials
Millenials are the generation that check twitter and facebook more than they check email, they don’t read a newspaper as they get all their news online and rather than yellow pages they use google and recommendations from friends to help choose which business / service to use
Those business that carry on doing what they’ve always done in terms of marketing will be left behind
5. Business is doing well at the moment
Amazing that business is doing well … positive note for those reading the blog is that many small businesses that I meet in person are literally having the best time in business ever. It’s not the doom and gloom the newspapers would like you to believe
But while business is doing well it’s good to use that positive word of mouth and amplify it online. It’s much easier to market something that is busy and successful than to wait for a fallow patch and try and market up
We’re here to help business with their Social Media – not just the basics, but a real social media strategy that defines your message as well
If you want a chat call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk
