Social Media is not just for kids, its for adults!

From Anthony Burke - WSI Digital Marketing are Experts in Social Media Marketing

Social Media is here to stay and here at WSI in Sussex, we have expert social media consultants.   At a team meeting yesterday, we were discussing that we are now over three quarters of the way into year into 2010 and the world is going "social". 

However, we still meet many small and medium sized business owners that are still dismissing “social websites” as either a place for teenagers to hang out or for very large companies with very large marketing budgets like Starbucks, BMW or Coca Cola.  Right, it is definitely true that these large companies are investing in social media and have a presence on all these sites.  If you are small to medium sized business owner, you had better pay attention to what the social sites are saying about YOUR business too.

Why Should You Care about Social Media

You should really care because the fact is that  – whether you like it or not – Google is going to show people results from these social sites about you when they search your name, your products or your services.  You had better believe it - your Facebook page or Twitter profile might actually show up in search results above your company website. So the big questions are:

• is my company reputation affected?
• are these listings positive or negative?
• what can you do about it?

What could possibly happen?

Well your reputation or your company brand could be severely affected.  It is important to bear in mind that “the Internet doesn’t check facts.”  More so when this applies to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.  But there are many more to worry about. Here is a list of some frightening things that could go wrong:

• Has someone else reserved a Twitter or Facebook username similar to your name?
• Anyone can setup a Facebook business page (even if it’s not theirs)
• Anyone can post a review about your business on hundreds of websites (including Google)

Some of the early social sites for McDonalds and Coca Cola were not set up by these companies and the the fact is that if you don’t protect your company brand name on social profiles, you are in danger of someone else putting information on the Internet that you can’t control.

What Can You Do?

You might not be ready to undertake some social media planning and you may not have time to keep up a social website profile.  However, as a minimum, I suggest you at least reserve your brand names on social networking sites.  For example, as a minimum you should do the following:

• Register a profile with all the major social media sites
• Complete as much company information as you can on these profiles
• Check with organisations you belong to such as the local chamber of commerce or directory sites that may allow you to enhance your business listing
• Claim your local listings on Google, Yahoo and Bing

At least by taking these initial steps you will, at a minimum, ensure that you don't find someone else is operating a social website profile in your name, putting your brand at risk or even that it is a competitor.  You need to protect your brand, your products and services and ensure that you have a presence where your potential clients and prospects are looking and networking..

There are many more digital marketing techniques that can benefit or improve your business’ online presence. Here at WSI we have an innovative Social Media Marketing practice which can help your company benefit from the internet in a strategic way.  We work with all companies of all shapes and sizes, so why not contact our digital marketingexperts or give us a call