Social Media: You have to jump in even if you don’t understand it

I know everyone is tired of the “what is social media” question, but I found this article to be a great quick-and-dirty argument for embracing social media as it happens. It really nails down how the internet became an essential part of business (apparently sometime in late 1997) and concrete examples of how companies jumped in or got left behind.

It’s not just about having a site, or even having a good site- what you say and how you interact with clients, customers and other businesses always, consistently- that is what now defines your brand. Before we had cameras, image wasn’t as important. Now that the Internet is what it is, it’s crucial to manage the perception of you, your brand and your company, or someone else will end up doing it for you.

It may seem like a lot more work (though it really doesn’t have to be) but it’s really amazing how many levels you can reach people on with the widespread usage of social media.

In a test run by BazaarVoice, Rubbermaid discovered that adding customer reviews to their website increased sales and decreased returns of their products. Skeptics said sales of low-rated products would crater. What actually happened is that sales of low-rated products increased. When shoppers were questioned, they explained that when they read why someone else maligned the product, often they disagreed or didn’t care about that particular problem. If the price was right, it was worth buying anyway.

Why you have to engage in social media, even if you don’t want to.

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