I’ve fielded this question from clients, colleagues and friends. Many argue that it is just a way to waste time, something no one can afford these days. Like anything else, social media marketing can seem like a diversion from the “real” work at hand – especially to those who don’t fully understand how and why it is relevant for success.

At its core, the reasons to use social media – or not to – are the same as the reasons you consider when planning any marketing initiative. Therefore the answer, in my opinion, to the question “Is social media just a veil for “real” work?” depends completely on the business, on the strategy and goals of the business, on the product, and on the customer.

Let’s face it anyone can come up with reason for doing anything – including jumping on the bandwagon of the latest craze without a real plan and then watching valuable hours slip away either trying to figure it out, or blindly forging ahead without a clue. See how social media marketing can get a bad reputation? It is easy to get caught up on the “doing” of social media and lose sight of its real purpose as it pertains to your business.

Bottom line: At the end of a given period of time, if you’ve been using social media marketing and you have no measurable improvement in your business, if you have no measurable achievement of your business goals, than it is very possible that you’re wasting your time.

But this doesn’t mean that you’ve been hiding behind these web tools only trying to look productive. So before you take down your blog, cancel your Twitter account or disable your LinkedIn profile step back and take a look at HOW you’re using these tools. Could be that you’re in the right park, buy you’re just playing with the wrong balls.

I honestly believe that social media marketing can be beneficial to any and all businesses – provided you have a solid social media strategy that includes:

• a working knowledge of the variety of tools available
• what each tool does and does best
• what each tool cannot do
• how each tool works
• how to use each tool effectively
• a way to measure the effectiveness of each tool
• an idea about which tools your prospects and clients are using
• how to alert prospects and clients about your social media initiatives
• a determination about which tools you’ll use and which you’ll shelve, based on your research of the previous points

And also,

• how will social media fit into your overall marketing plan – how will it mesh with your traditional marketing…or will it?

Yes, social media marketing has the potential to be a colossal time sucker, but it holds even more potential to be a useful and effective tool to get your business where you need and want it to be. Even though the tools can be extremely user friendly, simple to access and offer a level of instant gratification, social media marketing shouldn’t be entered into without a plan.

Social media is a great way to exchange ideas, network with others, and enhance your personal and professional life. Millions use it as such. Wouldn’t you like to reach out and touch those “social media millions” with your latest product or service? At the end of the day, you need to be where your customers are.