Do or Die?

A continued assessment of whether a lack of participation is a death sentence…

No matter when the online revolution hit you, these days it's a pretty safe assumption that, whether business or personal, social media is a part of your everyday life. But, is not participating in Social Media Marketing do or die for your business? What really happens if you decide not to jump on the bandwagon?

As pretty well anyone conclude, the nature of your business plays a pretty large role in how deadly not being active on social media is. A clothing brand will find the buzz, accessibility and instant nature of social media much more effective and useful than that of a children's TV programme.

In some instances (like this ^) maybe social media platforms, and more so, social media marketing is unnecessary. Maybe in your business you feel that it's a waste of time and valuable resources…and maybe you're right. But, in this day and age where social media is so engrossed in our lives, is a lack of presence in this area tarnishing your brand? Does it take some of the 'shine' away from the branding and the established, well-known, permanency of your product that you have worked so tirelessly to establish? I think it does.

For businesses, social media presence is (in my opinion), as much marketing as those posts on social media which are intentionally used to market to consumers. When i say 'presence' I mean being active on social media as a brand, company or organisation not to necessarily sell your product or persuade people to enlist your services, but just a general presence of your brand. Maybe you post some humorous memes, or allow consumer's an insight into life behind the scenes. This is as much marketing as those intentional posts which say 'hey you…buy our product'. In fact, I think it's more important. How many well-established large businesses and organisations can you find that are not present on a single social media platform…my guess is not many. Do you think boost juice needs to show their followers on instagram that they make juice…probably not, they're an established brand. Their page is simply to reinforce this branding, it's a reminder that they exist and another platform for them to show you what they're about. Does this post below really tell you to hop in the car and buy a juice…no. Does it have the potential to make you do that though…yes.