By default, business owners choose their starting point — a social media business page — to be ‘the island’, says Darren Mansour, founder of So Interactive. He says that a brand's social page is commonly perceived as a 'cheap alternative' or 'free to market' website, which won’t cost much but will reach millions.
However, there are three rules to follow when it comes to placing your brand on its own social media page. They are:
Rule number 1: Don’t ever think you own the page
The allure of social media as the one-shot to launching your brand and retaining your customers can be a risky strategy for entrepreneurs and CMOs, as the rules change daily. With platforms like Facebook changing its algorithms, human control measures are diminishing and brand strategies need to recalibrate.
Rule Number 2: Don’t be fooled by your environment
It is unwise to think that, by hosting your business solely on a social media application, you’ll be growing your brand your way, on your terms, effectively.
If you’re currently on ‘the island’ or thinking about taking your brand there — we’re smoke signaling you right now. Having a social media presence may be important, but having it alone will stagnate your business growth.
Similarly, choosing to only have a custom-built website as your first and possibly last source of digital branding is not going to cut it either.
Rule number 3: Always integrate
You can’t have one platform without the other. Having a customised website without a social media strategy is a fool’s errand. Your website feeds your social media, which feeds your active engagement, and so on.
The key is to budget correctly and to plug into all the sweet spots simultaneously — from the get-go. Rethink your ‘island’ by implementing a strategically-designed, integrated network of touch points that work together — not in isolation — and that will deliver a 360-degree digital solution for your business.
For more information, visit
www.sointeractive.co.za. You can also follow So Interactive on
Facebook or on
Twitter.