59
Ask the Expert
Does your business really
need social media?
Des Maclaughlin, MD at Mac-D Consulting,
struggles for the “like” button
have very mixed feelings about
social media. On the one hand I
think the power of online reviews
has undoubtedly improved many
companyies service levels. While I
don’t use Twitter, which seems far
too dangerous for someone as
opinionated as myself, I will admit to
occasionally posting something on
Facebook, although I am considering
deleting my account as I, like many
other, have concerns about how my
data is used. My concern, however, is
that for some it seems social media
has become a drug which they
constantly crave. Maybe I’m just from
the wrong generation and too old to
understand the importance of how
many likes your latest upload gets.
The power of social media for
many businesses however is
undeniable. I often use the likes of
TripAdvisor, Bookings.com, Square
Meal and Open Table when stuck for
a hotel or a restaurant to book,
knowing that, despite some very
misguided reviews, I will largely get a
good sense of the what to expect.
Social media is what many booking
www.conference-news.co.uk
websites are built around and it is
why they are so successful. It also
explains why Trip Advisor won’t stop
emailing me since I left a review.
Never again!
If your business is attracting
hundreds of reviews which are largely
positive, or you have tens of
thousands of followers on Twitter to
influence, then social media
becomes a very attractive marketing
tool. What I’m not convinced about
however is the number of mid-size
and smaller agents who spend
valuable time tweeting or posting
pretty mundane stuff to a few
hundred followers (or less.) What
benefit do they get from this? None,
I’d suggest.
There is an art to using social
media effectively and if you are not
skilled in it then don’t bother going
there. Dull posts, over self-promotion,
constant re-tweets and poor spelling
are more likely to work against a
business than for it. Remember too,
anything that appears on the internet
stays on the internet.
My advice to agents would be to
forget social media and use this time
instead to personally engage with
your customers. This is likely to have
a far more positive effect and
generate more business. Feel free to
call me a luddite, but not before
properly evaluating what social
media has really achieved for your
business. I suspect it won’t amount
to much other than company time
and money.