After a somewhat rocky start, social media is among the hottest trends of the online world and is definitely here to stay. There will be more social media sites as the time goes by and the World Wide Web becomes the social hub of our lives. As unimaginable as the new killer social media site maybe we only need to go back a few years when a site like Facebook was hard to imagine and probably impossible to build. All of these sites have one common element and that is that they are social and human beings are social animals.
Social Media Test
As the term social can be a key to an increase in sales it should not be treated lightly. This quiz will let you know how much you really know and it may surprise you.
- Should content be automated:
- Never
- As often as is possible
- Always
- Occasionally
B is the correct answer as long as the information you are adding is valuable, people don’t mind how it got there.
Social media cannot be measured:
- False
- True
The correct answer is A, as it can be measured although a lot of people assume it can’t be as its main purpose is recognition of brands. In this way, it acts like a TV commercial in that the more people who see the commercial, the more people will come to you for business.
One way to measure social media is to start a contest, have a coupon or conduct a poll that is only available on social media sites. This will let you see exactly how many customers are coming from social media sites.
- Who is in charge of social media?
- The owner
- The marketing department
- The public relations department
- Other
Bit tricky this one as the answer is D, other. None of these are really wrong but it takes everyone to be in charge of what happens in social media. At times the owner will be in charge, possibly at first but as things progress everyone can have input. As long as the people or person interacting with the social media sites has the right idea it cannot go wrong. The person needs to want to hear about comments and what people are saying on the social media sites. If you’re not the right type of person then it will be doomed to fail.
- Social media is a waste of time
- True
- False
This is another trick question as the answer is false but it also depends on what people are doing on the social media sites. If you answered B you can still have a point. If the users on Facebook were considered to be a country it would be the fourth-biggest and that is a lot of people in one place. Many people who consider that social media is a waste of time look at it as a waste of time. Being a waste of time is relative to what a person is doing on and off the social media sites.
If a person is enjoying being on a social media site they don’t consider a waste of time to them. They are happy and relaxed and go where they decide to and look at what they want to look at, not like a TV commercial that interrupts your viewing. By visiting your site they have invited you into their space for a moment.
- Social media is working better for
- Business to business
- Business to customer
- Large and small business
- All of the above
Here D is the correct answer as it can work for everyone. It is promoted as a business to customer action even though any size business can use it and no matter what business you are in or who you are in business with it will help people get to know who you are. Whether you are a Mum and Dad corner store or home business or a multi-level corporation if you are a friend to your customers they are going to trust you and buy from you.
- Facebook and Twitter are all you need
- True
- False
B is the correct answer and it is just that both of these are dominant at the moment but why not use all of the social media sites to promote your business. This type of media is in constant change and who knows what the next big thing will be, you may as well be prepared for the ride.
Stay aware of and ahead of the changes and be a trend watcher to see when it might be time to try a new social media site.
- Social media is a science
- False
- True
This is, of course, A, false. It is not a science it is a communication between people and is more of an art than a science as there are no cold hard facts telling you how you should use it. There is no right way or wrong way, just maybe a better and a worse way to take advantage of it. Above social media is about being social with other people regardless of where in the world they might be and about relating to each other on a personal level. Social media does come with a guarantee.
How well did you fare?
Congratulations to you if you got all seven questions correct, you are definitely on the right track with using social media.
If your score was four or less this may be why you are not already using the social media sites and taking great advantage of the exposure they can give you. Once upon a time if you didn’t have business cards to offer you weren’t serious about your business and then you needed to have a website in order to be taken seriously. But today you need not only the website but a presence in social media to have a chance of being taken seriously.
By having a presence in social media you will have a chance for continual exposure and therefore growth of your business. Social media exposure could be the difference between staying in business and closing up for good. If you aren’t already taking advantage of social media than your competitors certainly will be. So now is the best time to join the social media advantage and tackle that business growth head on.
Adam Chronister is director and co-founder of EnLeaf, an award winning Web Design and Internet Marketing Firm. You can find him on Google+ and Twitter.