What is Your Business’ Social Media Resolution for Year 2011?
Posted: December 29, 2010
With the holiday season here and almost gone, it's time to bid adieu to the year 2010 and embrace the New Year with open arms. Consider Douglas Idugboe's list of social media resolutions when planning your 2011 business plan.
With the holiday season already here, it’s time to bid adieu to the year 2010 and embrace the New Year with open arms. And the onset of the New Year inevitably marks the time to make resolutions. And it’s not just individuals; businesses too have their fair share of resolutions to make at the beginning of New Year.
From a business perspective, it’s time to reflect back on the year gone by – what went well, what went wrong, what could have been better, what should have been avoided and a plethora of other things. It’s also the time for retrospection on your social media efforts for 2010 and plan your social media strategy for 2011.
Though I’m not a believer in making resolutions on the personal front, I always take the New Year as an opportunity to set my business/ social media agenda for the next twelve months. Here’s my list of social media resolutions for year 2011 and I’m sure many businesses will relate to these.
Commitment
I often say that social media isn’t a shortcut to success. To boost your business through social media, you need to be committed. Social media is worth the time and money you invest, only if you are prepared to give your 100% effort. There are turbulent times when things don’t quiet go as per your social media plan, but as a business you need to be patient, look at the broader picture and re-affirm your faith in social media.
Innovate
Social media thrives on dynamism. A social media strategy that worked perfectly for your business in 2010 may actually be a perfect recipe for disaster in the New Year. As a business, you constantly need to innovate and re-invent yourself in the social media world. Be it your business Facebook Fan Page, Twitter Profile or tweets, add a degree of innovation in order to get out of that “routine” mode. Innovation comes at a cost, but considering the returns on hand, it’s well worth the investment.
Collaboration
Social media is all about being “social”. You can’t be confined to a silo and hope to be successful in the social media world. From a business perspective, you need to collaborate with partners, clients and some times even competitors in the social networking world. Humans are social animals and businesses after all cater to human needs. Don’t be shy to collaborate with others on new opportunities in the social media space. Some opportunities never strike twice!
Balance
Social media can often be an overwhelming proposition for businesses. They get on to the Facebook and Twitter bandwagon and are so obsessed with their newly found social media presence, that they tend to forget if they are actually “successful” or not. I’ve often come across businesses which spend so much effort on their social media presence, that day to day business operations take a back seat. While it’s good to be impressed with social media, being obsessed with social media is highly risky from a business perspective!
Measure
The New Year presents a good opportunity to measure the success of your social media efforts till date, take corrective action if necessary and then go all out with your revised social media regime. Set milestones and measure your progress periodically to see if your social media efforts are on track.
Biz Tip Source: Smedio
About the Author: Douglas Idugboe is a New Media and Social Web Evangelist, Bestselling Author, Marketing Strategist, Speaker and Trainer. You can find Douglas on Twitter.