Social Media: the New Marketing Magic The equitable back-and-forth


nature of such a dialogue, which introduces risks as well as rewards, may intimidate some operators. “You have to give up some control to get this two-way conversation going,” admits Jashinksy. “I’m familiar with some companies that won’t let users post information on their Facebook wall because they’re afraid they won’t be able to control their brand message. They’ll only put information up there themselves.” But what these clubs gain in


Consultant Justin Tamsett in action


control, they lose in interactivity, which is one of the principal rea- sons for employing social media in the first place. And simply ignor- ing new media isn’t a solution, either. “A lot of people have the idea that, if they don’t participate, then nothing bad can be said about them. But, just because you don’t know that people are talking about you—that doesn’t mean they’re not talking,” says Groves. “You might think that you’re not


“Social media is a way to have a conversation with your public, and to establish a level of trust and respect for your subject matter, which is health and well-being.”


to tweet about six reasons why people should exercise to get them interested. Then you can tweet about your special.” In fact, Tamsett recommends


posting at least 10 non-sales- oriented messages for each pro- motional message. “SMM isn’t just about selling,”


he says. “If people think that’s all you’re about, they’re going to tune you out. What they really want is to have a conversation.”


48 Club Business Internat ional


involved in social media, but, whether you want to be or not, you’re already there.” Conrad concurs. “Consumers


are having conversations about clubs, and there’s a very good chance that someone has already said something—either positive or negative—about you.”


SMM: in practice


Joining in on that conversation may seem like a daunting pros-


| FEBRUARY 2011 | www. ihrsa.org


pect, especially if you have a small club, but, if you conduct some basic research, formulate a solid plan, and proceed cautiously, there’s no reason to hesitate. Ini- tially, you’ll need to put in a fair amount of time exploring the pos- sibilities, and learning how to use SMM to benefit your business. Check out the Facebook pages of your direct competitors, club chains, and other companies, and begin following them on Twitter. Finding out what other people are doing will help you decide what you want—or don’t want—to do. If you find that you need help,


but don’t have an information technology (IT) department or person, you may be able to hire contract help to get your opera- tion up and running. Once you’ve established an


SMM system, it’s important that you use it, keeping it active, with feeds that are interesting and up- to-date. “If you decide that you’re going to have a Twitter account, but then you don’t tweet—you don’t send anything out—well, then, it’d be better not to have the account,” counsels Tamsett. “It’s worse to have a social media option and not do anything with it than to not have it at all.” Most experts recommend hav-


ing a person responsible for maintaining the system, a task that will probably take 2-4 hours a week. Although SMM is an integral


component of your overall marketing plan, the results it produces are more ambiguous, less easy to quantify, than those of your other efforts. While you can easily track the results of a pay-per-click ad campaign, tracking the results of SMM is more nearly an intuitive exercise. “If people think that, by going


onto Facebook, Twitter, or You- Tube, they’re going to generate business instantaneously, well,


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