Comments on: 5 Ways Hiding Your Social Presence Hurts You

By: Jamie Fairbairn

Jamie Fairbairn — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:50:45 +0000

I think for big businesses with the resources to engage on all social media platforms it’s a poor show that many of them are in ‘hiding’.

Whether they like it or not, a large percentage of potential customers are active online. Would they open up an offline store and just put a few signs up but not have any staff on hand to help and advise?

By: Nick Norris

Nick Norris — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 17:57:21 +0000

“ignoring social media makes you mute, not invisible” – I like that. As a social media guy for a Fortune 50 that has fully embraced social media, I think this point stands on its own.

By: Promod Sharma | @mActuary

Promod Sharma | @mActuary — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:32:38 +0000

Thanks for this post, Lisa. Hiding from transparency makes companies visible … in a bad light. Hiding prevents current and potential customers from paying a company … with attention.

I like the line “You can’t leverage a bridge you haven’t built”. Well put.

By: dean

dean — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 15:09:07 +0000

RE: “When I land on the PETCO site and I see immediate links to connect with the company on Twitter, Facebook and their blog – I trust them more.” Really??? Its as simple as throwing up some chicklets to gain someones trust?? Geez, I thought that was done by how a company conducts itself day to day over time. I didn’t realize it was just a matter of throwing your social media accounts on the homepage. BP.com also has its social media accounts on the homepage. Does that mean I should trust them more?

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:36:50 +0000

David – I definitely agree about not only HAVING the systems in place but knowing how to leverage them. Oddly enough, I referenced that in this morning’s post about Real-Time Marketing. We must be sharing a brain or something. ;)

http://outspokenmedia.com/online-marketing/can-real-time-marketing-be-without-elephant-sized-backlash/

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:35:03 +0000

I completely agree! Especially with larger brands, you’d think they’d have the budgets to hire someone to handle their social media FOR them if they were so against doing it themselves. I agree – there’s no excuse today for hiding from social media, especially if you HAVE the accounts and you’re just not showing them off.

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:33:46 +0000

I can definitely see larger brands taking that stance. They begrudgingly accept the fact they need to be there, so they create the accounts going through the motions, hoping it’s enough. It’s not. And it creates a huge disconnect.

For small companies, I think it’s more fear that they’re “doing it wrong” than anything else. They’re not sure they’ve totally gotten the hang of this “twitter thing” yet so they don’t tell anyone about it. They wait until the accounts are “successful”. However, it’s hard to build a following when you’re not telling anyone you’re around to be their friend. :)

By: David Hartstein

David Hartstein — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:31:16 +0000

Very nice article Lisa. I particularly agree with point #2, that you can’t leverage a bridge you haven’t built. I think this not only applies to having the system in place, but also being confident and comfortable enough to use it in a savvy way. It will be really tough to use any social media component in a crisis moment if you are not practiced in doing so.

Thanks again for the post. Really enjoyed it.

By: Maciej

Maciej — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:00:53 +0000

Nobody should be hiding from social media in todays online marketplace. Why would you want to hide from the people that can help grow your business? If a company is scared than they need to put someone in the drivers seat that wants to dive in and start chatting and sharing.

By: Gabriele Maidecchi

Gabriele Maidecchi — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:29:08 +0000

My impression is that social media is sort of imposed to most brands. They don’t like it, at all, heck executives hate not to be in control of this stuff, and social media isn’t really something you can control. They have to participate, but they choose to do it in a “stealth” way, dedicating limited resources to it (enough to have a presence, not enough to make it count) and they hope it’ll be enough to make customer see “they care”.
Do you feel the same?