Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Everyone in business should understand opportunity cost (lost opportunity cost or missed opportunity cost). If you bring this kind of analysis to bear, you will quickly see why your business cannot afford to ignore social media as part of your marketing and customer service programs. Ignoring social media results in more than one missed or lost opportunity. Each opportunity carries a cost to your company.

Before you start plugging numbers into a cost equation, understand that social media success requires three things:

1. Knowledge

2. Time (typically 6 to 12 months)

3. Involvement

Understand as well that social media marketing alone is not likely to achieve your marketing goals. Social media should be used alongside and in conjunction with a range of other online and traditional marketing tactics or activities. Finally, understand that you need to understand and know how to measure some new key performance indicators, including...