Don’t Become a Marketing Dinosaur

Failure to effectively engage with Social Media will secure your fate as a Marketing Dinosaur.

Just like the dinosaurs could not have predicted their annihilation from an asteroid hitting earth, many corporations are still in denial about the cataclysmic impact Social Media has had on marketing and the way we now do business.

Whilst there are a number of risks involved in using social media as a marketing tool, the risk of not engaging appropriately can endanger your business even more.

Perhaps you are thinking you can avoid the risks altogether by simply eliminating its use in your recruiting and marketing, and by banning employees from using it on company time or equipment.

Failing to exploit the opportunities social media offers for building your brand, retaining current customers and attracting new ones, exposes your business to even greater risks and possible extinction.

You are really just burying your head in the sand if you think this social media stuff is just going to go away.

Refraining from engaging with social media ignores the positive effects of such powerful platforms:

• It limits your exposure and tools to establishing lasting relationships with stakeholders, customers, potential employees, and other affiliates
• It makes your business look prehistoric
• It limits your capacity to expand the reach of your products and services in quick, cost-effective ways
• It diminishes the communication channels between you and your employees
• It denies you the opportunity to galvanize loyalty from your existing customers
• Your competitors will leave you for dust

Businesses that lack social proof (negative social proof), lack credibility and trustworthiness in the eyes of the consumer.

One of the major trends of the “Naughties” is the consumer’s desperate need for AUTHENTICITY.

Social Media helps businesses and individuals be transparent and grow through popularity. By being “real” and authentic you can project your unique selling point (USP) and set yourself apart from your competitors.

Once the dust settled, not every primitive creature was reduced to being a fossilized relic. Those who managed to survive did so by adapting to the new conditions and evolving with the revolutionary climate.

 Your organization does not have to go the way of the Dodo.

By formally assessing the risks of social media and implementing guidelines that promote responsible use, you will be better equipped to adapt to the ever-changing nature of social media as well as reap the benefits of using these new tools.