What if social media cost money?

Tuesday, 30th March , 2010

Now, before you curse me out and tell me that social media isn’t free – relax, I’m in agreement with you. Investing in social media has a very real cost and it’s definitely not free. But most of the tools to conduct social media are free to use (facebook, twitter, blogs, etc.).

Because these tools are free, many companies treat them as such and make no real investment in them. They don’t bother putting together a strategy, mapping out goals or defining metrics and when things get too busy, they simply walk away from them altogether.

So what if more social media sites had a cost assigned to them? What if companies had to pay to create a facebook page or a twitter account? Would this ensure they stuck with it? Would it make the content more relevant to users? Would anything change?

About the Author

Rich is the president and founder of Radium, an internet marketing agency specializing in SEO, SEM and social media marketing. He is an AdWords qualified professional and splits his time between Austin, Boston and sunny Buffalo NY. You should follow Rich on twitter here.

eric diaz

March 31st, 2010

eric diaz said:

Interesting ideas, but you leave me wanting more. In my head Im picturing a $100 sign-up and monthly charges based on usage. Why not make a little money off McDonalds 2 million engaged fans?
Rich Angstadt

March 31st, 2010

Rich Angstadt said:

Thanks for the comment Eric. Profiting directly from your user base is definitely enticing but the backlash for companies switching from a free system to paid one would be horrendous. Although, if you start out with a paid model you wouldn’t have the backlash, of course you may not have as many users.

I was stirring the pot on this post…wondering if the low direct cost to engage in social media influences the amount of planning and effort companies put into it.