Something I have observed lately by auditing social media sites is that companies are not using their social media pages correctly. For example, many have so much potential and just are not engaging in the right conversations about their brands. I am not a recognized “expert” in the community, but it’s not hard to distinguish between the companies who have planned and are using social media strategies to enhance their business and those who have no idea what’s going on.
Social media is becoming a necessity for all companies regardless of their size. Most are looking to agencies for social media training and implementation. I’ve put together a few tactics for those companies who are just beginning and cannot necessarily afford agency prices.
The Most Important: Have Goals and Objectives
First and foremost, define your goals and objectives. And no, one of them cannot be just because everyone else is doing it. It’s a horrible decision to start any social media site and have no clue why or how you plan to utilize it. Here are some questions you should have the answers to before starting:
1 – Figure out who your target audience is.
2 – Find out if they’re actually on social media. If yes, where?
3 – What differentiates you from everyone else using social media? Define your “It” factor.
4 – Decide on how you going to entertain your audience?
5 – Define whether you see social media as a value addition or an investment?
6 – Can your product/service go social?
7 – Define your expectations.
Package Your Site Like You Do Your Brand
It seems like common sense, but so many companies do not put the time in the details. Use your social media pages to create brand awareness; your social media sites should never cheapen your brand. For example, your Twitter background, font colors, the avatar picture and the profile section (name, location, Web site and bio). Incorporating other sites of the business on each page is also a great idea because it will bring attention and make it easy for people to find them.
I think it is good for a company to explore what works and what doesn’t when it comes to social media. If you don’t try it, will you ever know if it works? Social media is changing daily and is enhancing the way our society communicates with one another and small businesses need to jump on the bandwagon and find their place.
Remember: The Point Is To Be Social!
It amazes me how many people are using social media, however, they are not social in any way, shape or form, they are lifeless with no personality. So, here are a few tips on creating and maintaining a successful and interesting and social page:
-Play Nice with Others: One of the worst sins in social media is to lack interaction with others. People will see right through your content if you are not genuine. Also, use your tags! Tag anything you deem relevant, from what you’re reading and from what your followers are posting. And say thank you, for comments, retweets, @s, etc.
-Be personal: Don’t think all business, the best part about social media from a business standpoint is that it allows you to reach out to their target audience and potential clients on a more personal level and research what they want. Care about your audience and desire to get to know them personally; don’t just be there to spit product and promotions.
-Be interesting: Explain what the company is working on, connect and interact with your employees to show your culture and work atmosphere, and update regularly. Without updated tweets, followers will lose interest. As a follower, I want to see what type of company it is, I want to see their views and opinions on trending topics, I want to see what cool and exciting projects they are working on and I want to see how they incorporate their employees into their tweets.
