Social Media: Where’s Your Engagement?

I guess I shouldn’t be shocked, but I am. A bit.

As I mingled before the keynotes at the EDPA Access 2010 annual conference last week in Jacksonville, Florida, I talked with a lot of people. Of course, since my badge shouted ‘SPEAKER’ it was a natural topic to discuss what I was speaking about (social media), and to inquire about the state of social media in their business.

Social media has been a ‘thing’ for a few years now. Back in ’07 it was commonly referred to as “Web 2.0” but that name has faded in favor of “social media.”

And still most folks I talked to are barely involved.

I understand, to a degree. There are obstacles: lack of knowledge, lack of time, lack of manpower, lack of resources.

And even though I met one person who proudly told me that they had turned an intern into a full-time Social Media Marketing Manager six months ago, I was a bit surprised that so few exhibit companies seem to be involved in social media.

There’s a lot to be gained by getting started now:

• getting ahead of your competition
• gaining better understanding of your market
• a higher level of engagement from customers
• an improved bottom line

And if you don’t start now, it’s a pretty sure thing that a lot of your competitors are starting or are already involved. They’re blogging: helping customers and potential customers solve problems, find answers to questions and positioning their company as the go-to expert. They’re Tweeting: driving traffic, finding new blog readers and potential customers. They’re on Facebook: creating event listings, sharing photos of exhibit builds and set-ups, client functions and much more.

It really doesn’t take much. I’ve found it’s not that hard to work those valuable social media activities into a regular workday without much problem.

And besides, you don’t have to jump in all at once. Talk with your staff, find out their level of interest. Do you have a ‘digital native?’ – someone who is adept at moving around in social media? They’re a likely person to take the lead for your company.

Work your way up to one of the social media outlets – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.

Start somewhere. Start anywhere.

Check out webinars on this blog about social media and blogging.

Ask questions. I’m always available to chat and would love to help you out.

But really: if you don’t get there soon, you’ll be behind. Very far behind.

And I don’t think you’ll want to play catch up when the game is already in the fourth quarter and the other teams are leading 100 – 0.

photo credit: Kristoffer M.C.