The Top 5 Reasons Your Company SHOULD NOT Be in Social Media

1. It's another way to tell the world what your company is doing.
If your primary goal is to broadcast information to the world, then stick to traditional media relations and marketing. Because social media IS NOT about lecturing or broadcasting information. It's about conversations. If you're on Twitter and all you're doing is pushing information out without responding to what others are saying, you're wasting your time. Ditto Facebook and other social media channels. Social media is about connecting and listening to others. That's not to say you can't -- or shouldn't -- share what you're doing. It just can't be your only (primary?) goal.

2. Your neighbor/best friend/colleague told you you need to be there.
If you're heading into the world of social media kicking and screaming, just turn around now. Social media is about experimentation. You have to be ready and willing to jump on in, play around, and see what happens. You have to embrace the unexpected.

3. Everyone else is doing it...
If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you?

4. It's the only way to control your brand's presence/identity within that world/network.
Let me make it clear: If you're there, you have a chance to see what's being said and address or respond to concerns, criticism, etc. But control? Control isn't the name of the game in social media.

5. You don't have money to spend on traditional marketing or PR efforts, and social media is free.
It's not free. It takes your time. And time is money. It also shouldn't be the only component to your PR and marketing plan. Social media can work great as a complement to more traditional outreach activities. But in few cases will it help your company succeed or grow if it's your only activity.

So why should you take a dip in the social media waters? Well, here are two reasons:

• Because you know your customers are there and you want to engage with them and know what they really think about you.
• Because you genuinely want to take part in conversations -- and not just conversations about your business, but also conversations about your industry, industry trends, and sometimes, your hobbies. (But that whole "hobbies' issue is a topic for another post... Or you can read my Women Grow Business blog post on that issue.)