Social Media:
10 Things You May Be Wondering

What is social media anyway?

It’s a shift in how people discover, read and share information about your business. It’s a powerful new set of marketing tools. It’s a cultural phenomenon that has fundamentally changed the way people connect and form relationships online and the way online behavior translates into real-world actions.

Isn’t it just for teenagers talking to their friends?

That’s one popular aspect of social media. People of all ages use it for all kinds of personal reasons. Businesses have been successfully taking advantage of that for years. You create your own universe of people to communicate to and receive information from.

What can social media do for my business?

Find new customers in ways that were never before possible. Build your current customers’ loyalty in ways never before possible. Spread positive information about your business to more people in more places more quickly than ever before. Social media is also the 21st-century way to keep tabs on public opinion. Not only can you keep track of conversation about your products and service, you can help shape that conversation and create more of it.

Why should I worry about it when it could all be a fad?

The Internet isn’t going away. In fact, social media is just making it more influential. People are already using social media to talk to each other about your business and your brand. They’re already choosing to let your competitors talk to them via social media. More than 200 million are doing it on Facebook. Twitter use exploded by more than 700 percent last year. People were posting millions of comments on blogs and writing millions of online reviews even before Twitter was invented. While any one aspect of social media may rise or fall in popularity, social media is here to stay.

I’ve heard it could be risky. What could go wrong?

The biggest risk is not taking advantage of social media. If customers aren’t hearing from you or about you, how can you get them in the door to buy from you? But just as starting any conversation could go wrong by putting your foot in your mouth, you need to be careful about what you say. AboveWater will make sure you’re saying the right things in all the right places online.

Our marketing and public-relations plan is working pretty well. Why should we do this?

The old ways to get noticed are still important and still effective. They’re just no longer enough. Your customers lives are changing, their expectations are changing and your business has to keep up to remain competitive. The good news is that social media actually helps you get more mileage out of the traditional ways AboveWater has been helping you reach customers.

My customers are in Naples. Is anybody around here using social media?

Yes. But social-media users all over the country will help you connect with customers in Naples, even if those customers aren’t yet using social media. Every day, conversation that starts online makes it into your customers’ living room, to their office and onto their golf courses.

How do I know it’s working?

AboveWater will tailor a social-media strategy to your specific needs and goals. Depending on which of the many options you choose, we’ll measure its impact for you, too.

How much is this going to cost me?

It could already be costing you customers. Social media is about word-of-mouth. The vast majority of customers do their own research about you before ever calling or stepping foot into your business. You have the chance to create that positive word-of-mouth or leave it to chance. Social media adds value to the services AboveWater already provides you.

What do we do to get started?

We talk about your goals, get some more information about your customers and offer you some choices. After that, AboveWater will implement an agreed-upon strategy to achieve your objectives.