By Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk

by Sarah Warlick, copywriter and editor

You hear about the importance of using social media for your firm all the time, along with fantastic claims about the benefits it offers.

While there’s a good case to be made that business use of social media is imperative and the benefits are proven daily by firms who use it well, social media does come with hazards and challenges. There are caveats that should accompany each whole-hearted endorsement of the merits. SocialMediaToday shared tips for recognizing the liabilities and avoiding the pitfalls in their article Social Media in Business – Are You Being Unsocial? The points are valid, so let’s examine them in further detail. Social media offers businesses so much value that it’s worth the time to analyze the best ways to use it without getting snagged by the inevitable thorns hidden among the roses.

Free isn’t really free. Though using most of the popular sites is free, your time and reputation have major value. Devoting the hours it takes to establish and maintain a solid social media presence means someone isn’t doing the other things on the duty list. Be clear about who does and doesn’t manage the sites. In addition, be careful to assign tasks in a way that makes sure someone is doing the work that the person on social media would normally cover. Everyone can contribute, but someone needs to be in charge and that takes significant time.

Wide use makes it easy to get lost in the crowd. You might feel like you’ve earned huge numbers of fans through your efforts but it takes a consistent, positive presence over time to get the loyal followers you’d like to see. When almost every business has a site, users won’t be flocking to yours just because it’s there. Great content and plenty of opportunities for interaction will indeed win the hearts of readers, but it won’t happen overnight.

Easy-to-use doesn’t equal easy-to-use-well. Handling these interactions sporadically or awkwardly can end up costing your company in terms of professional appearance. Setting measurable goals is a good way to help you focus on your end result. Establish clear guidelines for what you say and how you say it. Think before you post – does this conform to and help solidify your overall brand messaging? Is it truly interesting or useful (or ideally, both)? Will it spark conversation, and if it does, will the conversation be too polarizing to create good will?

There is such a thing as enough. Social media channels proliferate at an alarming rate these days, meaning there’s a wonderful choice to be made. Which ones offer the best fit for your firm when so many are available? Think about what your firm does best and where you’ll find the biggest pool of potential clients. To ensure you’re getting a good return on your social media investment, you need to select only as many sites as you’re willing to commit to maintaining well. You can’t have a meaningful presence on all of them, so pick your favorites from the dominant handful and add one or two industry-specific sites, then call it a day. Limits are essential here.

Permanence is transient. Huh? Social media isn’t going anywhere but the buffet of individual sites changes almost daily. New sites appear and soar to cult status within a few months (can you say Pinterest?) during this period of explosive growth in the medium. As users flock to some, they abandon others. Remember MySpace? How can you choose the sites that will matter in the long term? You’ll have to make an educated guess on this one, because no one knows for sure. Even experts disagree when it comes to predicting the dominant forces in the future social media space. Diversifying your presence (within reason – see above) among the major sites and appropriate industry-specific channels is one good approach. Beyond that, you can research the trends or simply go with your gut, but in any case pick the sites you enjoy using over those you don’t care for as much. Chances are, you’re not the only one who feels that way.

Social media can give your firm a whole new way to deliver your message and establish you as a thought leader. The benefits can’t be overstated, but they’re not automatic or even necessarily easy. By all means, jump on the bandwagon if you haven’t yet. Just do it with your eyes open and expect it to take work to reap the benefits.

If you’re sold on the idea but want a little help, bbr marketing will be happy to assist by educating your firm to manage your social media internally or by creating and managing an effective presence for you.