Social Media is Much More Than Just A Pastime.

When You Use Social Media As A Tool For Success, You Reach & Help More People.
By George L. Rosario, CEO & Founder at GC Rosario Group

Social Media Marketing! It's no longer viewed as a place for high school kids or desperate adults to hook up on (MySpace). It is no longer seen as a pastime for those that have nothing better to do. When we see the world's top companies, organizations, celebrities, politicians, and even churches spending billions on social media marketing, how can we ignore the impact these tools have on our social, private, public, spiritual and professional lives?

Social media has taken over people’s lives. This means that if it is not respected and handled properly, this tool can go from positive to negative very quickly. Irresponsible use of it has brought some powerful people and organizations down. Improper use of it has gotten some folks banned from it. Wrongful use of it has even led to death; of the user and/or his audience. And just when you think you’ve figured it out, the social media people change the game.

Every once in a while, social media techies either throw a shiny new platform at you, change the one you finally mastered, or completely remove one that you've taken the time to build. I mean, if you are old enough, you may remember the early days when Myspace was the space to be in. Nowadays, most people have no idea what it is, what it does, what it did, or that it even exists. I haven't used this platform in years, but I just found out, while writing this blog post, that the platform still exists and that I have an old profile still active on it. If you click on the word MySpace above, you'll be taken to it.
So, how does someone, especially a business owner, public figure, company, organization or marketer take advantage of this useful tool? Focus on targeted, intentional marketing. Instead of trying to be everywhere, choose one or two platforms that you are truly strong in or comfortable with, and become really better than good on it. For example, while I do have a SnapChat account, I don't spend time on it. Meanwhile, I do spend a lot of time on my Instagram profile. I am on the other big ones as well, such as Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. I spend time on those that I use the most for my GC Rosario Group business and my personal brand. I spend less time on those that I simply use for entertainment. Knowing which ones you are strong in, and for what purposes is crucial to your social media time management and usage.

If you are in sales or in any type of profession that requires you to stay top of mind with potential clients, you may want to become good at the type of social media platform that your prospects/potential clients may be on. If you are selling high end homes in New York City (like my team does), you probably won’t spend too much time on places like SnapChat, but you should have a presence on Facebook and on Instagram. You shouldn’t completely ignore any of the major sites, but just don’t spend too much time on the ones that may not be pertinent to your goals.

Let’s face it, there are simply way too many social media sites available out there and if we are going to try to master them all, we might as well never leave our home or look up from our phones. As much fun as they can be, simply having a virtual relationship with our phones and tablets is not real living. If we plan on using social media as a tool for our business, we have to use it responsibly. That means spending less time scrolling aimlessly, and more time engaging others productively.

So how do we cut through the clutter of new apps, sites and shiny pennies to find the ones that work best? The obvious first thing is to feel out our business. Are you in a people business that targets potential clients who can purchase your high ticket item? If so, then you want to use an app that more professionals gravitate to, such as LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter. If you have any doubt about this, watch any speaker, any marketing expert or any celebrity and see what site they give out during their events, it’s usually their Twitter link. And not that Elon Musk has purchased the platform, business driven changes will surely come.

Of course, once you’ve decided what platform you are going to focus most of your attention on, you don’t want to ignore the others. The best way to manage the ones you are not going to pay too much attention on is to figure out how to share your content from the main app to the other apps with the least amount of effort or time. This isn't always a perfect plan because your content has to be converted into the correct format for that site. If this sounds too complicated for you, perhaps you may want to hire a professional to manage your social media for you, or perhaps simply to help you launch it correctly. We at GC Rosario Group provide this as a service to our exclusive clients. Visit our website for more information.

The next step would be to choose an app that is very visual, which requires less writing and focuses more on the visual aspects of marketing. See, blogging is a great tool and blogs do work well for SEO, SEM, KPI, Google Analytics and organic traffic purposes. But, today's online user has an attention span that ranges from 3-6 seconds. If you can't capture their attention immediately, you will lose your audience. Therefore, consider taking some time at become acquainted with apps such as Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest. Each one has different features that may change the user’s experience depending on the user’s social media capabilities. I find that Instagram is a very easy tool to use because I can share to other apps directly from it, but that is just my preference. I know some hardcore Pinterest and Tumblr users that simply do not want to jump over to Instagram, while others have figured out how to connect all of them in a harmonious way.

Finally, do not ignore YouTube. After all, YouTube is a search engine, and one that is used by people of all ages, genders, social & economic situations, races, family compositions, marital status, religious backgrounds, locations, beliefs, professional & education levels, etc. In other words, everyone’s on it so why would you and your business not have a burning desire to be on it? Now if you are going to actually start producing video content for YouTube, this may take a little getting used to. At GC Rosario Group, we provide a class on this. We meet with your team and walk them through a Social Media 101 type of one day course that will at least help them begin to get comfortable with the process. This one-day course includes a look at YouTube and what it can do to your brand awareness and marketing. Social media is actually very user friendly once you break it down.

There you have it. If I was going to list all the social media apps that exist, or even all the ones I use, we would need to write a book about it. So focus on one or two and grow as your abilities grow. These apps and sites will continue to change, and as they do, you will need to adapt to them. I would write a book about this topic but there's a problem with that. By the time I publish the book, it will most likely be as outdated as MySpace and Google+. So for now, use the ones I’ve listed and if they go out of style before you find this blog post, visit us at GCRosarioGroup.com or book a FREE 30 Minute Consultation with our consultants. You can also Google, Bing or Yahoo my full name, "George L. Rosario" or our company's name, GC Rosario Group #GCRosarioGroup and you will immediately find us. Chances are we will be using whatever new app or site is making waves.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and please, if you take anything away from this blog post, let it be an open invitation to connect with us on social media today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

George L. Rosario is a Brooklyn NY born & raised businessman & entrepreneur turned consultant. He started GC Rosario Group with his lovely wife Claudia. With over 30 years of service to the marketplace in NYC, George has relocated and been graciously adopted by the business community of South Florida. He now travels the country helping businesses and organizations thrive in today’s noisy environment. The post-Covid era forced many to close their doors, but also opened new doors of opportunity, growth and prosperity for innovative thinkers. George & Claudia Rosario help companies, businesses, organizations and teams develop the necessary skillset and plan of action to not just survive, but thrive in this new world. GC Rosario Group helps both secular and Christian based institutions meet their goals.