Many business owners want to know the answer to this question. It is usually the first question they ask after they get the idea that they need to have social media as a component to their marketing, advertising and public relations or communications programs. How much does social media cost? For the most part, social media is free. Twitter is free to use, Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr cost nothing, and finally, blogging software is free. Yes, social media is “free”. The problem is, someone has to pay for free.
The problem with social media is that it costs the customer or user in man hours or labor and user time. I spend many hours in my day using all of the above tools. I am constantly on Twitter. I monitor all of the services for comments, and the metrics associated with their use. Now granted, I am a professional and this is what I do, but how does the everyday business owner or person in charge of a company’s marketing, advertising, and communications use social media? That is the real challenge. Time is money after all, and we must find ways to budget for social media in our business day.
It actually is easy to keep up with once you set out a plan and make it a part of your daily routine. Just like email became a part of your morning ritual, you will begin to add a time to check the company blog, the Facebook page and the Twitter account. You have to set aside the time to do each of these tasks much like using any company tool or piece of software or even that time spent at the real life water cooler. Is social media free? Putting a value on how much your time worth will answer that question.
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Tags: free, social media, social media budget, social media cost, social networks
That is exactly right, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
Well said, Jim.