Think Before You Spend Your Money on Social Media!

A while back I blogged about using free and near-free social media tools.

Free is definitely good but it has its limits.

Eventually, as I’m now finding for myself, it’s time to spend a little money.

(BTW this article is intended for small and mid-sized businesses.  Larger ones generally don’t worry about the small sums of money that many of these tools cost.  Some, to make things easier for themselves, just buy the tool company outright! If you fall into this latter category then you may want to skip this article and go binge watch something.)

My caveat for those of you considering to start spending money on social media tools is have you exhausted everything that you can possibly get from the free version before trading up?

What are the signs that it’s now time to trade up?

Here’s a few that I’ve come across:

1. Automation is needed, otherwise, you’ll never get any sleep!
2. Capacity in some form (e.g., volume, number of accounts, etc.) is about to be maxed out.
3. New features are needed.
4. Your free trial is about to expire.  (Really do your homework with this one.  It’s way too easy to just let it roll over and start paying.)

After reviewing reasons like this then go back to your organization’s goals and objectives (Check the first step of approach for developing a social media program for this one.  Of course, you’ve already followed my approach!) and make sure this proposed spend fits within your original plan and your budget.

Let’s talk about the expected benefits from this proposed spend.

Yes, I know.  “Benefits” is an ugly word that makes us uncomfortable.

You have your reasons like those outlined above for incurring this expense.

But, will this added cost create or improve your cash flow and, if so, within what expected time frame?

How long could you continue to incur this cost before it begins to pay for itself?

Just keep in mind that everyone wants some of your money, but, is what they’re offering worth it?

Don’t forget to check with others who have used or are using the tool to get their inputs.

This type of feedback is one of the the great benefits of social media!

That’s it for now!

In the meantime, thank you for following and reading my blog!

I look forward to any and all comments that you may have.  I will reply to any comments made to this blog post as promptly as I can.

Remember!

I do this for a living and if I can be of any assistance to either you or your organization, please feel free to call on me.  Our initial discussion will be of no charge to you.

I can also be reached at conpsweeney@someddi.com.

My Twitter handle is @conpsweeney.

Stay well!