You can sit by and watch your new and existing competitors build their revenue, circulation and community, or you can develop your own social media strategy
Did you know that more than half of the publishers we talk to haven’t even dipped their toes into social networks?
“I don’t want to hear any more about this MyFace or Spacebook,” they say. I’ve heard every excuse in the book that publishers give in order to ignore Web 2.0 and “stay true” to their original audience.
The main excuses we hear most often:
- “My niche doesn’t use social networks”
- “The people on social networks are just other marketers”
- “I don’t have the time, and neither does my staff”
- “The economy is down and we don’t have the budget to start using social media”
- “ I can’t measure the results”
- “Nobody on my team is trained and I don’t have the skills/time to learn”
What if I told you that every single one of these statements is false? In fact, some are just plain silly.
And if “staying true to your original audience” is your main goal, I have to ask:
What about a new audience?
What happens when your existing audience starts to pale and thin out? If you think creating a new audience from the more “digital” crowd won’t happen for you, then you should talk to some of the very successful magazine and newsletter publishers we’ve talked to.
Telling yourself or your company that you don’t have the resources or knowledge to use social media and start gaining a bigger advantage over your competitors is —I’ll say it — holding your company back.
Maybe you’re the excuse maker, or maybe you’re the excuse taker, but excuses are running thin in a day and age where the tools are free and all these new skills require is a little time and effort.
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Kids graduating from college already know netiquette and social media like the back of their hands, and they’ll be happy to take your job.
Sure, they haven’t been doing what you do for 15 or 30 years, but they can learn.
Can’t you?
I know it sounds harsh, but times are tough, and companies need to do more with less.
Here’s a secret: Social media “experts” are just people who use social media.
It’s a shame there are so many “experts” that want to charge you a consulting retainer or a hefty fee to do something you can learn yourself—very easily in fact.
The fantastic thing about engaging on social networks and building your own online communities is that it’s a learn-as-you-go process. Once you’ve stepped in, you’ll understand the netiquette and best practices just by watching and listening.
So here’s the thing… You should still spend your time watching and listening, but we’ve also developed a program just for publishers who want to engage in social media at the upcoming Mequoda Summit.
I hear you asking, “Amanda, I thought you just said we shouldn’t listen to experts about social media and just do it ourselves?”
Here’s the thing, you can pay some social media expert to do the work for you, or we can train you on how to be your own social media expert. You can let someone else do the work for you, or you can get trained on how to do it yourself.
What we’d like to do is show you how other publishers have used social media to their advantage.
Consider it the “inside scoop”.
We’ve talked to dozens of both B2B and B2C publishers who have been successful being social and they’re willing to let us share with you their tips and tricks for driving website traffic, attracting new customers and creating new revenue streams.
With all of these case studies, we’ve put together a robust session called Social Media Marketing for the upcoming Mequoda Summit in Boston.
Social media marketing is fun, usually free, and incredibly gratifying. And yes, there are measurable metrics.
