1.     The Sin Bin
In Rugby Union, if a player commits a serious foul then the referee can send him to the Sin Bin. His team are forced to go a man down for ten minutes. If you are on the end of social media spectrum where you aren’t engaging users on a daily basis in multiple ways and on multiple networks then you are, in essence, a member of the penalized team. You’re playing at a major disadvantage to the people and competitors in your industry who are actively using social media to win new business. (And if you aren’t even a member of these key sites, how can you ever know what is being said about you or your profession by your customers and potential customers?)

2.     The Extra Man
Conversely, if you choose to step into the social media realm with a calculated plan and a clear strategy then you acquire a major competitive advantage. In effect it is you who are now playing  with the extra man.  You have the chance to be one of the first in your industry to build a truly loyal following. Sure, the technologies are massive, but they’re also young. Noone ‘owns’ the space yet. It’s game on – in every sector and every town.  Now is your chance to do what you wished you’d done when the first wave of internet successes started emerging over ten years ago.

You don’t have a choice to enter the game. It’s already started. Your only choice is which team you want to play on –  the one that is advantaged, or the one that isn’t. That’s the only choice you’ve got right now…

3.     A Community Following 
By far the biggest benefit of using platforms such as Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn is the ability for you to build a community around your cause.  If you sell car valeting products how valuable would it be to have tens of thousands of car enthusiasts accessible to your business right now? What if you could have them help you develop your new products, test it for you, and then spread the good word to ten friends each? If every one of them did that (and they can and will if you do this properly) then that’d make you some serious cash, and wouldn’t hurt your brand reputation either.
Community is about engaging. It’s about listening, and responding appropriately. It is NOT  just shouting about me, me, me and your new idea. It’s about caring for others. Do this, and you will help your brand and reputation in such a way that you will always have people willing to help you accomplish your goals. It’s powerful stuff.  

4.     The New Internet Marketing  
The goal of any internet marketer is to get people to visit a specific website. So then, if several of the most visited websites in the world are already allowing people to use their sites to freely guide people to specific websites, why wouldn’t you want a chunky piece of the action?

Why does Google make so much money from its ‘pay-per-click’ advertising? Because most people who use the internet use Google to find what they want. NEWSFLASH: most people who use the internet use Facebook, (Facebook now has more page views per month than Google) and Twitter isn’t too far behind. Internet marketing is already beginning to manifest itself into social media because the truth is, the opportunity on these sites is as big as anything that’s ever happened on the web.

5.     Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)  
Google is now recognizing Tweets in their organic results – and high up, too.
There are hundreds of thousands of Twitter profiles showing on Page 1 of Google for  valuable keyword terms. Google recognises Facebook profiles and allows commercial “fan” pages now to rank as well.
Effective use of social media builds relationships which turn into links. Instead of trying to put your content where it’s not wanted (high Page Rank sites that dislike spam) why not put it on sites which are SEO friendly, which like fresh content, and allow you to post virtually anything you want, anytime you want? The obvious answer here is that SEO and social media are like strawberries and cream – both are better when they are together.

Bottom line: SEO will deeply depend on social media in the future, and therefore utilising it is a must for anyone who wants web traffic. Period. End of story.

6.     Your Reputation Matters…
What have people said about you, your industry, your company or your competitors on Twitter or Facebook today?
This week?
With a Social Media Manager you will always know.
How valuable is it when a disgruntled customer grouches about you online and you are able to spot it and respond constructively and positively –  within hours? Your relationship with them isn’t just preserved, it’s enhanced.
How valuable is it to be able to collect the nice things that people say about you (that you wouldn’t normally even see) and magnify their exposure. This is big stuff.

7.     You Don’t Know What to Do…
No disrespect, but it’s true.
99% of UK business owners have little or no idea how to properly tap into and exploit social media – even those who are dabbling with it already.

Which platforms are right to expand the exposure for your business and your target market?
(ANSWER: It depends!) 

What is a social media campaign?
(SHORT ANSWER: It’s developing a great message and then reaching out to people, while giving them an incentive to ‘pass it on’)
How do you monitor social media and spot what needs action?
(SHORT ANSWER: Google Alerts, Twitter searches, traffic sources…and more)
How do you build the right audience?
(SHORT ANSWER: By finding interesting, relevant people on Twitter, commenting on relevant blog posts, using Facebook marketing and pages and getting into conversation with people)

8.     You haven’t got time to do it properly
Oh sure, you can dip in and out and dabble. You can tweet a few times each day. But if you’re running a business the reality is that haven’t got the capacity to do social media properly. Not to fully exploit the enormous opportunities that it presents.
Just. Not. Possible.
You need some help.

9.     Your Blog isn’t very good…
OK, so we might be offending 0.6% of our readers here – but for 99.4% our analysis is spot on.
When you go to somebody’s house for the first time, what do you do? You look around for photographs, check out the books and magazines lying around, you form a picture of this person. The same needs to be true of your blog – it needs to be a window on you. So people that come there feel like they know you and your business. They can see pictures, learn what you’re interested in, read all about you.

Here’s the thing – all you have to be is more interesting than an advert. They have to feel that they know you just a little bit better than they know your competitors. That’s all. Make a personal connection with them via your blog and they’ll trust you and the business is in the bag.
There’s also a whole caboodle of SEO reasons why your blog is important. Bottom line is, you’ve got to have a great blog – and you don’t, right now. But don’t worry, your Social Media Manager can fix that for you.

10.  You’re not keeping score…
Doesn’t matter what it is in life, if you’re not measuring it’s impossible to know how well – or badly – you’re doing.
We’ll provide you with feedback on exactly how you’re doing across the full spectrum of social media platforms. We’ll track your progress and the trends. We’ll keep score for you.

Call Shake on 0115 958 5969 or email info@shakesocial today to find out exactly how we can build your business.
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Kate Tyler is the founder of Shake Social and our long time social media expert. A regular speaker at events, Kate offers consultancy and training on a range of digital marketing topics, in particular safeguarding and using social media in an educational setting.