Social: relating to society or to the way society is organized
Media: the main means of mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet) regarded collectively
I found these definitions on page one of Google so they must be true, more of that in a later article, but generally I think they make sense.
Let’s be honest though if we’re talking business we’re talking Media full stop. Forget the social side of things all you really want is to get your message across to as many people as possible for as little cost as possible right? The ‘social’ side of things is for friends and family, not business.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. are all free to use platforms and if you have the time, energy and knowledge you can use these to your benefit with no cost other than your time. That sounds attractive but don’t forget to factor in your time – what’s your hourly charge for what you do? How long will maintaining all these platforms take? Finally how effective are your efforts?
After you do the sums you’ve three options, carry on because it’s worth it, stop because it’s not worth it or pay someone else to do it. ‘Simples’ as Aleksandr would say but you’ve got to have all these platforms working for you because someone told you it’s the only way forward. In my opinion, a good media plan is essential for any business but a poor one can be worse than none at all.
As an expat business in this region you need to advertise in etcetera, that’s a given 😉 , and you should probably have a website (bias alert!) but what about the rest? My advice is to monitor what you do and concentrate on what makes you money and that applies to ‘free’ quotes, ‘social’ media, and ‘free’ and paid for marketing.
Marketing is, arguably, a necessary evil but selling is a requirement for a successful business, You are good at what you do and my customers say I am too (and I don’t always advise you have a website) so between us, we should do well – let’s talk!