Don't Shout, Communicate by Ed Reid owner of The Alternative Board

But does it work for business? Does social media really generate worthwhile business leads and create customers?

It’s no surprise that a lot of people are sceptical. Facebook and Twitter are way below organic search and e-mail for customer acquisition.

And you’ll find that most people are using social media in the wrong way. Too many marketers – in both big and small businesses – are using it in the same way they once used an ad in the paper.

Whatever platform you’re on, you have to engage with it. It’s now approaching the status of a well-worn cliché, but social media is a conversation – it’s not a megaphone.

Social media has one huge advantage over traditional forms of marketing. It’s free. It doesn’t cost you anything to tweet, to post on Facebook, or to write a blog.

Unless you value your time of course. That’s why it’s crucial to use social media properly.

In addition to time there’s another charge that’s often laid against social media: you can’t measure the ROI. And I can understand that – the accounts department wants to measure the return on investment, not the return on intuition. But let me quote from the most knowledgeable person I know on the subject:

People tend to look for simple solutions when they’re measuring the ROI, but it’s much more complex. First of all, you’re very often investing time, not money. Secondly you need to look at the return on social media in two ways – analytically and anecdotally. You’re going to gain customers or clients – but you’re also going to gain reputation and authority. You can measure the first one analytically: the second though, is much more anecdotal.

For all of us running a business, it comes down to time in the end. There are an ever increasing number of social media platforms – and you can’t be on all of them. But you do need to be on some of them – and you need to be talking to your audience, not shouting at them.