The top five best practices of social media for business, part one of two
By Alexandra Reid
Earlier this year, it was predicted that 2010 would be the year that social media goes mainstream for business. Nine months or so later, this statement has proved to be partially true. Companies both large and small have flocked to social media platforms as ways to engage online audiences, listen to their patrons and drive sales. However, while major brands such as Dell, Ford, Comcast and Starbucks have devoted significant resources to develop far-reaching and long-term social media programs, it appears the majority of smaller businesses are still hesitating to get on board.
A University of Maryland study revealed that the adoption by small businesses of social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Foursquare, has doubled in the last year to 24 per cent from 12 per cent. This increase is quite drastic and signals the growing influence that social media is having on everyday business activities. However, the overall number of small businesses taking on social media activities is still relatively small, suggesting that many are struggling to implement social media tactics on their own.
Despite whatever fears or excuses these businesses may have, it is to their detriment to ignore the benefits that social media can provide for their businesses. In terms of marketing reach, an online study of 37, 600 Internet users in 54 countries revealed that 61.4 per cent of active Internet users managed a profile on at least one social account. Furthermore, over the last year, the proportion of net users connecting with a brand in social networks has increased to 30 per cent from 20 per cent, demonstrating an increase in demand from customers that their favourite brands be active users of social media sites.
As it is my job to teach businesses how to develop and implement successful social media plans, I thought I would offer some guidance to those businesses that I haven’t had the pleasure of working with yet. Here are the first three of my top five best practices for businesses interested in participating in social media. Next week, I’ll post the remaining two.
1) Research and develop a social media strategy
Before embarking on your social media activities, you need to observe and listen to your competition and target audiences. To develop a community around your brand, it is important that you gain a keen understanding of the types of topics being discussed, the language and style of dialogue being used and the individuals who are leading the conversations in your market. Search for these people and relevant conversations by entering keywords that represent your market into the search boxes on various social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Foursquare. It is also important to search the blogosphere, which you can do through search engines such as Technorati, BlogCatalog and Google.
In developing a strategy for your social media activities, it is important that you understand that social media accounts should be approached collaboratively. All accounts must express the same vision and must be maintained and updated equally to avoid mixed messages being delivered about your brand to your audience. Your online presence should be far-reaching yet connective to help channel audiences to your products and services.In developing your strategy, you must determine your audience, goal and action plan that should involve the adoption of management and measurement tools to compare results against benchmarks, which I will further explain later in this post. Agencies such as inmedia can help you develop a social media strategy for your business.
2) Dedicate enough time and resources
The purpose of developing a social media action plan is to generate a large and active online community around your brand. Make sure you are prepared to manage this community when it develops by determining how much time and resources you will need to commit to the project. You need to choose the social media platforms on which your business should be active, who will be in charge of managing the accounts, what type and how much content you will need to produce, how often you will post content and the tools you will use to manage your community.
Hiring a community manager to take on social media activities on behalf of your brand is a great way to ensure continuous participation. Agencies, such as inmedia, that have new media capabilities can help with this. In dedicating the time and resources, it is important to consider the “return on avoiding pain” as an additional measurement to ROI: one of social media’s greatest assets is the ability it provides brands to intervene in times of crisis for damage control and reputation management.
3) Remember the three R’s: Respect, reflect and respond
In any sort of dialogue, whether it’s face-to-face or digital, respect is of utmost importance in ensuring that all commentary is sincere, insightful and sound. You must listen to your audience and encourage a free-flow of opinions. Don’t be afraid of “bad” comments because if they’re not saying it to you, they’re likely saying it to someone else. By being informed about criticisms, you are better equipped to make things right.
Reflect on all comments to ensure you reply in a respectful and helpful manner. You should use this as an opportunity to show off the human side of your business, so make sure you are transparent in your objectives and identity. You must never, ever, be salesy when communicating through social media, even though your social media goal may be to increase sales for your business. Instead, offer helpful advice and information that indirectly adds value to your products and services. Engage with your community to encourage their loyalty.
Respond to comments with timely and interesting content to establish thought leadership and brand awareness. Provide your followers with the most direct form of customer service. Through social media, you have the opportunity to win the hearts and minds of millions. Get over your fears and take it on with confidence.
Let me hear your thoughts. What practices are you following as you develop your business’s social media activities?
