Social Media: How Many Should You Use?

A recent study (Burson-Marsteller 2010) found that 79 percent of the largest 100 companies in the world are using at least one of the four most popular social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and corporate blogs.
Of these, Twitter is the social media platform of choice—65 percent of the largest 100 companies have active accounts on Twitter, 54 percent have a Facebook fan page, 50 percent have a YouTube channel, and 33 percent have corporate blogs.

One in five of the major international companies are utilizing all four platforms to engage with stakeholders. Most employee assistance programs, however, are still in the beginning stages of using social media to grow their business and/or promote employee utilization.

Social media guru Jeff Bulla (Jeffbullas Blog 2009) believes that social media channels can be organized into
seven major categories:

1. Blogging;
2. Social networking (e.g., Facebook);
3. Micro blogging (a combination of social networking and blogging, such as Twitter.com);
4. Social bookmarking (encompasses directories such as Digg and Technorati);
5. Discussion forums (one of the earliest forms of social media; includes EAPA’s own “Employee Assistance Research Forum”);
6. E-mail marketing (Constant Contact is a prime example); and
7. Video (e.g., YouTube).

Bulla believes that whether and how much you use social media depend on the time and money you have available. He also thinks that if you can use only one social media channel, it should be a blog.

I do not entirely agree with him. Without question, time is definitely a factor. When I present “Building Business Through Blogging” at EAPA’s 2010 World EAP Conference, I will urge those in the audience to be honest with themselves about how much time they really have to blog, tweet, or write on their Facebook wall.

But money? I’m not so sure it’s much of a factor—that is, unless you’re a major corporation like Starbucks, which uses 11 different social media “channels” and employs six full-time social media staff to make it happen (Jeffbullas Blog 2009). Social media are free, so lack of capital is not necessarily an issue.

THE EXPERTISE FACTOR
But what about expertise? To me, that’s the critical factor that should inform all decisions about using social media for business purposes.

In my opinion, and as a beginning premise, 90 percent of bloggers have no business blogging. That may sound harsh, but if you disagree, ask yourself—and I would urge any EA professional considering blogging to ask himself or herself—the following questions:

• Can I write?
• Can I write something clever, useful, and/or witty?
• Can I write something clever, useful, and/or witty at least once a week?
• Can I write something clever, useful, and/or witty at least once a week for an indefinite period of time?

Most people will answer “no” to one or more of these questions. And if you answer “no” to any of these questions,
do not blog.

Why not? First, you will not present yourself or your EAP in a positive and professional light. Second, you will most likely abandon your blog after a couple of months. Third, and perhaps worst, you may blog haphazardly, which
will make you look amateurish and uncommitted.

If you’re itching to get involved in the blogosphere, start by finding and reading the best blogs in your field(s) of interest. Next, post your judicious and well-reasoned comments on these blogs. This is a great way to give yourself and your organization exposure.

An employee assistance professional might consider following these blogs:

• HR Web Café (www.hrwebcafe.com), a workplace Weblog about employment issues, people matters, and work trends;
• Where the Client Is (www.wheretheclientis.com), an excellent practicebuilding resource; and
• The Online Therapy Institute Blog (www.onlinetherapyinstituteblog.com), which brings together technology and mental health issues.
What about Twitter, you ask? Before considering using Twitter for professional purposes, ask yourself these
questions:

• Can I craft clever, useful, interesting tweets?
• Can I craft clever, useful, interesting tweets at least once a day?
• Can I craft clever, useful, interesting tweets at least once a day for an indefinite period of time?

You can have all the time in the world, but if you don’t have the skill set, don’t tweet. And if you want to be involved in Twitter, you can always follow the people and companies that are pertinent to your goals and re-tweet interesting information.

In fairness to Jeff Bulla, money can play a helpful role because you can hire professionals to help you develop your social media presence. For example, if you have good content to present but no writing skills, hire an editor to help you blog. Engage an expert to convert your thoughts and ideas into clever tweets. Get someone to help you use Facebook or LinkedIn. (Contrary to what you might think, do not hire a teenager. Teenagers use Facebook to socialize—they have no clue how to use it or other social media for business purposes.)

Here’s a helpful analogy to follow when making decisions about social media. Are you thinking about renovating your kitchen? If so, do you have plumbing and electrical skills? No? Then you’re going to hire a contractor,
aren’t you?

The same argument applies to social media. Use only as many social media channels as you have the time, money and expertise to devote to them.

References
Burson-Marsteller Fortune Global 100 Social Media Study. 2010. Online document.
Jeff Bulla’s Blog. 2009. How Many Social Media Channels Should Your Brand Be Using? August 2.