Social media marketing is a challenge for many distributors, in part because they don't understand it, according to Pamela Kan in As Manufacturing Evolves, Learn & Adapt or Be Left Behind. "They need to understand that this is a different and new channel to the market, and they have to learn about it just like any other one," she says. When you make your marketing plan for the year, include social technologies in that plan.
Think about how what you're already saying can be said in a different channel. Your marketing voice should be consistent, regardless of the platform you're using, Kan says.
And you don't have to be everywhere to make effective use of social media in marketing. Think quality, not quantity, Kan says. Though it is important to be active enough to get attention on these platforms.
Also, don't set unrealistic expectations for returns on your social media marketing. "I hear it all the time: 'We tried Twitter, and it didn't work.' But when I ask them how long they did it, they say 'a week,'" she says. "What in this life gives you a return in a week?"
