Social Media is Many Things, But It’s Not Free

“Nothing in the world is free” — My Dad

There are many reasons why the adoption of Social Media, as we know it today, was so rapid: e.g.

• Easy access — mobile technology, increase in Wi-Fi and 3G coverage, etc.
• The concept of sharing is deeply ingrained within us

One of the other reasons, of course, is that social media is — and always has been — free. Or is it?

Of course, I know you get that creating a Facebook page or group is free. Signing up to Twitter is free. Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn are all… free! However, I want you to consider this for a moment:

• How much do you invoice your customers for your time? £400 a day? £900? More? Let’s work on the lower end of that amount, for the purpose of this blog.
• Now, how much time do you spend, on average, on your social media activity each day? 1 hour? More?

If you spend an hour a day (collectively or in one go) and charge £400 a day, then one week on social media amounts to £200 a week to your business*. Do you still think social media is free?

In any downturn of a business, and every business has one, you need to justify the expense of all areas to a business, either to yourself or the number crunchers. That’s easily done for time spend on sales or the billable work that is charged to a customer. But how do you justify your time spend planning and delivering good social media content?

Action Point

You need to know that your hours spent on social media is justifiable to you and your business.

Therefore:

• Set goals — and understand how you’ll be able to measure them.
• Plan your content, while remaining in the moment.
• Measure your ROI.

If you need help with this, then get in touch.

* I measured this, for the purpose of this blog, at a working day of 10 hours for 5 days a week. If you work less hours, your rate will be higher and social media will even more costly for you. Be on top of what you’re doing.

** I also accept that the term “social media” is not a verb. However, for the purpose of the headline, and character count for anyone who may share it, I’m decided to go with it.

This post originally appeared at: http://www.edagoodman.com/social-media-is-many-things-but-its-not-free/