Why you should skip social media and focus on your business

Singapore businesses need to take a critical look at Social Media.

Fans says it is the best thing since sliced bread. In fact, Singaporeans are some of the biggest users of Social Media in the world. Yet, companies and businesses aren't seeing the increases in sales they expect. The wide gap between expectations and reality should tell you something is WRONG!

What's Wrong?

1. The Questions are wrong.
"Is Social Media right for my business?" is the wrong question. Instead, ask "Should we share who we are and what we do?" This applies not just to Singapore businesses, but to individuals sharing their special skills and talents with the entire world. 

Sharing is the reason you are in business - so more and more people can find you, buy from you and share with everyone they know how great you and your products are. The more content (text, video, audio, and images) is easy to find, the more easily customers will find you.

2. The Comparison is wrong.
Social Media is often compared with traditional media such as printed ads, TV and radio commercials, posters, flyers, brochures, and so on. Of course traditional advertising easily produces tangible results that can be easily linked. In Singapore we love KPIs. 

But the results of Social Media are spread across unlimited social webs (that's why it is called the World Wide Web "WWW") and it is difficult to see the direct links. Recent studies show that people are moving away from visits to physical shops and making an increasing number of those purchases online. By 2015 it is estimated that more than 50% of purchases may be made online.

The buying decisions of customers are increasingly affected by what they read about your brand, products and services through Social Media. You need to be a part of that conversation. Social Media is an opportunity to create and seed content into a multitude of channels with enormous potential to spread to an even wider audience that is already looking for it in huge online social communities. You may not see a direct increase in sales, but if you fail to leverage on Social Media, you will increasingly lose sales to your competitors who are using it.

3. Expectations are wrong.
Social Media isn't just about popularity. While Social Media IS about the conversations taking place online about you, your brand and your product or service, it is much more. What makes Social Media or anything else "Social" is the ability to share with others. 

Share news, articles, reports, surveys, statistics, your thoughts, and your passions and give people permission to discuss, to pass it along, to add their own thoughts and experiences. A website is one-way propoganda, but Social Media is an opportunity to engage, to build relationships, to build trust, and to explain your side of the story. People are ALREADY talking about you online.

The only question is whether they are talking behind your back or talking to you face to face through Social Media. Once you join the conversation you'll discover what people are really saying about you and your competition so you can learn new ways to improve and innovate.

The truth is, Social Media IS focusing on business. To skip it could be the biggest thing "wrong" with your business plans! Social Media is already critical to sales and will increasingly be even more CRITICAL to your business success.

Learn how to use Social Media the right way at SMART-Congress "Social Media and Real Transactions" this 16-18 March at Singapore Expo. As a priviledged reader of Singapore Business Review you can get a complimentary ticket worth $97 at https://bit.ly/sbr-freetix  

Ken Sapp  is a twitter strategist and internet marketing specialist. He learned a few strategies, created some profitable online businesses and is now a youth mentoring specialist