Is Social Media a Cost or an Investment?

Recently I was asked this very interesting question … Is Social Media a Cost or an Investment?

What an interesting question,  firstly if we view it as a cost it is usually associated with discomfort and can be likened to the question whether tires on a car are a necessity (a grudge purchase) or a luxury (enhancing the performance, comfort and safety). When we Social Media as a cost, either as a financial cost or a cost of our most valuable resource time we will always begrudgingly expect an immediate return for our money or effort. Social Media we know is difficult to measure and analyse but when we expect instant results we will normally come to a conclusion that it is simply not worth it. Mainly due to the fact that we viewed Social Media as a cost.

Seeing Social Media as an investment on the other hand is totally different. A clever investor will always tell you that you cannot expect good returns in the short term, that the long term benefits of your investment is the return that you are seeking. These long term benefits are known as influence. So how then can we make sound investments into our approach to Social Media?

Here are 10 Points to help you make a better investment into your Social Media Influence:

1. Remember to follow your interests and in so doing attract the people who are interested in the same things that you are.
2. Never pretend to be something you are not. E.G. if you don’t know about birds don’t pretend to know but you can connect to experts in the birding field so that you can recommend those people to your followers, and more than likely will reciprocate by recommending you.
3. When interacting try as much as possible to add links to the material you referring to.
4. Remember a photo is worth a thousand words, if you say it is raining, post a photo. If you say it is a lovely day, illustrate the fact with a photo as to why you think it is a lovely day.
5. Try and post at least once a day,  and try to share or retweet at least three things that you find interesting with your followers.
6. Of course you may share much more but the most important thing is to BE CONSISTENT, if you decide for example to Tweet once a day, Tweet once a day.
7. Follow people back, like their pages and do the things that will be more social.
8. Be a social person that is professional at all times, not a professional person who is never sure when it is appropriate to be social.
9. Remember that you are a publisher, don’t say anything that you would not say if you were live on television, print in a newspaper or say on the radio.
10. Most importantly your effort will give great returns on investment if you see each connection as a valuable relationship that will connect you to the correct people, due to the investment you have made into these relationships.

Please share your comments and let me have your feedback, I would love to interact with you further.

Image courtesy of rajcreationzs at FreeDigitalPhotos.net