What keeps you from being active on social media?
I understand the benefits of being active on social media, but I think that social media posting is time consuming. What keeps you from being active on social media?
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Apr 1, 2015
Social media is the best way for me to feel I am well connected. It gives me better visibility in the society and community.
On top of everything social media helps me to learn - share - learn.
Feb 2, 2015
The things I have found working with social media marketing for over 10+ years and consulting with clients is
1) Finding the time
2) Trying to be consistent with content creation and distribution
3) Being available to respond and engage on social sites
4) Trying to find the ROI for your business and not seeing the results
5) Trying to figure out what Social site you need to invest your time into.
6) Being successful in your business, social media can take a back seat to working with clients and/or working inside your business.
This is just my opinion
Feb 1, 2015
Yes keep active on social media is really time consuming. It need our time on daily bases which is sometime is irritating.
Jan 31, 2015
Social Media shouldn't be about broadcast so to be active effectively, you need to have a strategy and and story to communicate and engage with people. You won't get your community overnight and it will take time to build trust and engagement. There's the genuine fear that no one will like your posts.
Jan 31, 2015
It's time consuming but it's also effective if you run a business. I make it a habit to do it daily. If at some time during the day I'm not busy than I talk to followers and even like posts of others.
If you're serious about building your brand, than it's something that needs to be done, so I'd suggest putting in the work and time regardless. Money isn't going to come to you by itself without you pushing your brand. People want to know who they're buying from or doing business with. Especially if you're a small business. Social networking gives you the opportunity to show potential clients who you are and the ability to reach a number of people at one time. Once you get the hang of it and watch your fans grow, you'll be motivated to keep interacting with them.
Jan 31, 2015
Stories and content
remember in social media content is king but image is queen and the queen rules the house
Jan 31, 2015
Cynthia - people now a days expect to get immediate results and payback, i.e. everyone expects all they need to do is put up a video and it will go viral. Social Media is just the opposite - it is meant for ongoing collaboration and engagement...not just put it up once and forget about it (though someone noted that below). Just think of what their efforts could generate if they consistently share, interact and engage on it across platforms...The time issue is addressable - and yet, even when it is they abandon it because of lack of immediate results. I see it all of the time with clients, friends and even my own efforts...Now all of that said...someone can be consistent and active, yet, if their content is not what others are looking for, and/or they are not posting and engaging where their customer is - then no amount of tweeting/posting will create results - causing one to give up.
They have to have a strategy of which they test, adjust, continue, enhance and analyze..time and time again. Remember - people are fickle - what they like today is not what they like tomorrow.
Jan 30, 2015
It's time consuming. With that being said, it is also the first thing I do every morning. Twitter and LinkedIn are lead sources for our team so its important that we do social and do it often. We have a schedule of what types of content we post and when to ensure we're always engaged. We're also listening to customers to and check HootSuite several times a day to respond to queries.
For my team, we focused on where our prospects are (Twitter and LinkedIn) and created our social sharing scheduled based off Tweriod data and engagement on LinkedIn. Every time content is posted to our blog, we schedule out posts for our social outlets for immediate publishing up to a few months out. Overtime, we built up posts for our brand, and supplement with curated pieces, which made it more manageable.
That being said, we're B2B and have not seen as much engagement on Facebook and Pinterest, and we sell a product that isn't very visual so Instagram never took off for us. We put our time and effort where it pays off, and it makes it easier to manage too.
Good luck!
Jan 30, 2015
I think you have received some good answers. I would agree with the others that time and feeling the time invested is producing the results that you want and that there is a return on that time is a key reason people are not more active.
I do think there are social media channels that are more productive for some than others. The kind of business, the inclinations of the owner or person in charge of social media and all effect which social media has the most potential.
For my business YouTube has been great. Once it is posted you can forget it and we have had 10's of thousands of views on our videos. Facebook seemed like a waste at first. I did keep updating and now it is reaching the point where it is becoming a valuable asset. Twitter and Linkedin have not impressed me so far however for someone in a different business they could be very valuable.
The important thing is to put the time into social media until you find out which ones are valuable and then make them a priority and invest the time to get the return you desire.
Jan 30, 2015
Because I'm an artist and my posts have to be creative, I know my mood dictates how much I produce to share on social media. I get depressed during the winter and I haven't been posting very often. But I should be!
Jan 30, 2015
If I talk about social media today then its a place where you can thing $ are running here and there, so the more you will focus on social media the more $$ you will be able to get inside your pocket. So, I would say make it a habit and if you aren't able to put your concentration over them, them I am afraid but you are loosing a lot of $$.
Jan 29, 2015
To add to the reasons:
Not all social media is equal and not every medium will fit every company. Some companies avoid certain platforms simply because they do not suit their particular company. It might not fit their image or perhaps they have a specific customer group e.g. a company that operates purely B2B might have better results spending their precious social time on LinkedIn rather than Facebook.
Some companies might of course entirely avoid social media. A lot of companies that only target a small local area will most likely not be active on social media like a small bakery or a corner shop. A pub, restaurant or club might be a different case because it can be an extension of their core business.
Jan 29, 2015
Time is probably one of the biggest reasons people have given me for not doing more with social media. I recommend that clients schedule a set period of time each week to devote to social media. Let's say you decide on 2 hours every Saturday - use that time to schedule tweets or Facebook updates for the week ahead. If you have a blog, write one blog post per week and schedule tweets to promote it. This way you maintain a presence on social media without sacrificing a whole lot of time. Here's a guide to scheduling which may help you. http://www.slideshare.net/ennoconn/smart-guide-to-twitter-scheduling
Jan 29, 2015
From my experience the two biggest reasons why businesses aren't active on social channels are:
1) They can't see the value. "If it's free, it can't be worth anything," etc.
2) They're frightened in case they "do it wrong".
Yes, building and maintaining an effective social presence is time-consuming - and has a cost. But so is cold-calling, advertising, channel development, lead-generation, CRM, strategy development, lead-nurturing, branding, positioning, business process outsourcing, public relations, product development, and market research.
All of the above - and probably a lot more - can be facilitated through the effective application of social channels. I don't consider endlessly tweeting-out links, or focusing on getting "Likes" or "followers", as being an effective social strategy. Organizations that truly understand what social can offer are building their own media networks consisting of engaged, enthusiastic customers (and would-be customers) that are only too happy to contribute, share, help - and SELL.
Jan 29, 2015
You nailed it! Social media posting is time consuming. People will get more active when they see the benefits: a ROI, that need not be monetary. - The Pragmatic Web Designer
Jan 29, 2015
What keeps me active on social media? Is that I was able to gain customers to my business, that is why I am active in social media. =)