The Case Against Social Media – Part I
Updated: 9-15-09 Changed “business tool” to “advertising vehicle”
I have been an opponent of social media as a business tool advertising vehicle because of the lack of ROI and the time and effort it takes. It’s a time suck and as a business owner you only have so much time in a day to do the things you really need to do.
Social media has a huge opportunity cost.
This was my belief until I sat in on a seminar by Kurt Ballard of Zig Zag media. He used an example that may change my belief, or at least refined it.
I still hold fast from the small business perspective. However, I might have a change of heart for the mega giant company’s point of view. But I still have some research to do so don’t quote me on that.
Michael T's Body of Knowledge 
Hugo Messer said,
August 21, 2009 at 12:44 am
Hi Michael,
it does make sense :). I read a lot about social media and most people are very positive, but I do agree with you that the ROI is not clear.
The graph above is more valid for people trying to sell something directly on the net in my opinion. I do believe that social media can help you build your brand, especially in business to business. It can help you achieve credibility, spread the word about your company and update your (prospective) customers on subject that are intereseting to them.
I hope you’ll elaborate a bit more on these thoughts, cause I like the insights of social media opponents!
Hugo
http://linkedin.com/in/hugomesser
http://www.bridge-outsourcing.com
Michael said,
August 21, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Hugo, thanks for checking out my article. I appreciate the feedback.
I’ll elaborate on my 80/20 rule. I do believe that social media has it’s place and my 80/20 rule does not rule it out. As you take care of SEO, PPC, and other aspects of your site and or business model, then those efforts may require less work in the future, which will re-arrange your 80/20 workload. Social Media may pop up at that time where the payoff is greater than the effort.
The best social media success story as a business tool, and really the only one I have heard of, is Twitter, but not in the way you will think. A company was using Tweetdeck to listen to consumers as they either bragged or complained about their product. It gave the company a chance to see their weaknesses and then immediately fix those, turning the aggravated into evangelists.
Harvard Study Shows Most Social Media Sites Are For Looking At Pictures « Michael T's Body of Knowledge said,
September 16, 2009 at 8:08 pm
[…] recent conducted a study of Social Networking sites that espouses what I have been saying about Social Media like FaceBook and Myspace as places to advertise for sometime. For one thing, findings show that […]
Michael T's Body of Knowledge said,
November 26, 2009 at 12:30 pm
[…] to research my Social Media for the fortune 500 crowd. Read my blog post about why I don’t think social media is right for the small […]