Social media can be confusing. You know you need to do it, often feel intimidated, sometimes get sucked in so it saps time from other valuable business actions. More worrying, how do you prove that it has an ROI (return on investment)?

There is much advice out there, and it's changing constantly. So, wouldn't it be nice if there was one place where you could stop, take a breath, and really have a clear view on how social media can help your business in today's world? Real help, in a practical manner.

Having seen the good and the bad in social media in hundreds of companies (both consumer and business-focused), and of course, having dabbled in it ourselves for our multiple companies, there are a few general rules:

you have to be in it to win it
it does not succeed without a great product or service
integration between social media and traditional sales/marketing is a must
to be efficient, you need a checklist and then stick to it

The most common questions we get asked are:

What platforms should we be on?
How often should we be posting?

As a business, you have the choice

do social media yourself
delegate to someone in your team
find a freelancer or agency (such as NettResults) to run this for you

There are of course no specific rules but let us share some best practices that seem to work in most cases. If you are new to social media, then start here, then tweak for what has the best ROI for your company.

And to get more specific to that second question, we have a checklist so a business can plan social media strategy and tactics:

Social media is not a quick fix a sales problem.
Social media won’t work overnight.
Social media is hard work and a long-term term commitment.

The good news is that social media can be an integrated marketing action that is relatively low cost and can raise your visibility and add credibility to your business.

If you’re interested in Middle East targeted marketing – then contact our ME team.

If you want to get your international sales and marketing teams aligned – whatever country focus you have – then contact us in California.