Business strategy is all about creating a position relative to your competition.
Social media has become part of many businesses' marketing strategy, because they figured that's what they should be doing. Some companies have invested a lot of time and money into engaging with their consumers, becoming more transparent, and reacting to PR in a very open way. On the other hand, some organizations and business owners are unsure if they should be using social media.
Should your organization use social media?
It depends.
Many social media experts say that your company MUST be on social media. I say it depends on what kind of business and industry you're in.
One key aspect of strategy is understanding how to make use of the best of the resources that you have, whether that's people, equipment, time, or money.
What if your businesses was successful before social media exploded?
If you've been in business for ten years or more, your organization likely grew and prospered before social media. Like it or not, the world now is a more social place where everyone has a voice, consumers are faced with many choices every day, and competition can pop up out of no where.
Social media provides a platform for your company to engage and build relationships with both your potential and existing customers:
- to show that you care and that you listen
- to show that you want their business
- to create brand awareness and brand loyalty
- to interact in a less formal environment
Like it or not, if you don't embrace social media, your competition will.
Just think about this: Are your competitors using it?
Do you think it's working for them?
What are the odds that customers are going to them instead of you because of their social media presence?
If they are getting customers (possibly your potential customers), what does that mean to your bottom line? What are the costs and benefits of using social media versus abstaining from using it?
Have you ever heard of the red queen hypothesis?
It basically explains that organisms need to constantly evolve. Just like technology keeps evolving, so do the businesses that use them. Sometimes these evolutions lead to advantages against their competitors ( this is where strategic planning is important)
Sometimes evolution is required just to survive...
Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. -Lewis Carroll
My job as a business consultant and strategic planning facilitator isn't to tell you what to do; it's to let you know what your options are and to help you plan what is best for your business in the short and long term.
Your business might be fine for the time being without embracing social media as a business strategy.
On the other hand, it might be costing you more than you realize.
Social media isn't just for sharing pictures of food and cat videos. It's how some of the biggest brands in world are creating advantageous positions in the marketplace; It's also why social media companies are selling for billions of dollars.
I'm hosting a workshop in Vancouver on June 29th to help businesses figure out which social media platforms are the best to use for their business: Demystifying social media so you can use it as part of your business strategy.
If you want to learn more about developing your strategic plan,
see how working with a facilitator can benefit your organization:
