There is a lot of hype surrounding social media as a great way to brand a business, person, idea, or whatever. I completely agree that it is an extremely low cost method that one can leverage to get a brand out there on a shoe-string budget. I definitely push the idea to new businesses and very much enjoy social media in general.

But when it comes down to marketing your business, product, or idea online, make sure you stick to the fundamentals. That is, Building your assets.

What do I mean?

Think of the difference between an opt-in mailing list of 2000 people, all who have agreed whole-heartedly to receive news and specials on your products and services, vs 2000 people following you on twitter, or the 2000 friends you may have on facebook. The latter is something you do not own, and do not ultimately control. What would happen to your business or brand if your social media accounts were shutdown?

Your opt-in list is an asset, your social media account is not.

What can you do?

Store data – it’s so important. Other than a trusted brand, in my opinion, data is the most valuable asset a marketer can have. Build your customer relationship management database and make sure you track and use your website visitor behaviour. These are two great starting points for any business on a shoe-string budget.

Social media is great to leverage in order to drive traffic to your site or perk interest in your service or products, but unless you do something with those visitors and potential customers you are merely wasting your time.