By
@JackAlert of
The Social Latte
While I had an AWESOME time presenting Social Media at the East Valley Business Expo, I heard the same conversation being had over and over - business owners talking about social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and how to best utilize them to make a positive impact on their business. During these conversations, I also find the same questions being asked over and over:
• How do I make this work for my business?
• How many social media sites should I be on?
• How much time should I spend on social media?
• Do I need to separate personal from business?
And amazingly enough, my response to them is almost always the same and often elicits the same blank look, “It depends on why you are there in the first place.” Without knowing why you are using social media, you can’t answer any of the above questions.
As a social media consultant, I know this may be heresy to say, but I don’t think social media is right for every business, yet. However, I do believe every business should take a good look at social media to determine if now is the right time for their business. And to do that, the evaluation doesn’t start with the social media sites themselves, it starts by looking at the business itself and having a solid understanding of what is happening in and around your industry. Here are some of the things I want to know from every business before the first Tweet.
State Of The Union
Social media is not a remedy that will magically fix businesses with fundamental problems. It is imperative that you know what is and is not working in your business before you invite thousands of people to take an up-close and personal look. What is your business doing really, really well that you can highlight using social media and in what areas are you falling short and can address or improve upon using social media? How would you rate the quality of your product or service? How are you handling customer service? What is the general sentiment of your customers? Do they love you and your product or are there issues you need to address to improve the experience? What makes you unique from the rest of your competition?
You need to know the answers to these questions because I can guarantee you, they will be talked about online. I believe it is much better to know and be prepared for the adoring customer AND the nagging critics before you have an audience of thousands rather than after.
Get The Team Together
For social media to be done well, it takes commitment and cooperation from all parts of the business. Social media platforms may be free, but they all require an investment of time from someone in the business. Because social media can expose your business to so many different types of people including customers, suppliers, vendors and investors, your entire team needs to be aware of your social media undertaking. Businesses also need to develop guidelines for appropriate social media interactions for employees representing the business.
I am not suggesting that everyone in your organization is going to be expected to open a Twitter account. However, everyone does need to understand they may very well be called upon to get involved in some way due to a comment, suggestion or feedback received via social media. Even if you are a smaller business wearing many of these hats yourself, it is important to be aware of the broad range of topics you need to be prepared for when using social media.
Do You Have A Golden Key Ring?
Your golden key ring is composed of the keywords and phrases people use online to find you through search engines like Google and Bing. Your key ring should contain terms specific to your industry, product/service, location or topics closely related to your core business. A well-defined and researched key ring is crucial to opening all of the online doors necessary to leverage the power of social media.
However, without knowing how and why people would be looking for you online, it makes your social media strategy much more difficult if not impossible. This is due to the fact that so much of what you will be doing within social media is content driven. Without keywords, it is difficult to find and target your audience, difficult to maximize your website, blog online profiles and bios or to produce content that is searchable and valuable to your audience. And although search engine optimization is an art and a science in and of itself, a basic understanding of the keywords for your business is a requirement.
Who Is Coming Over For Dinner?
My wife loves to have a clean house, especially when we are having people over for dinner. So before the event, great care is taken to make sure the house looks just right – inside and out. This idea also applies to social media in that you will be inviting people to your website or blog who want to learn more and connect with you and your business. But before you start inviting people to your site, you had better make sure everything looks great, is functioning correctly and positively represents you and the business.
To start, take a look at your current website to see if it needs a little housekeeping here and there. Is your content up-to-date, targeted and optimized for your visitors? Are your prices and offerings all current along with your graphics and design? Does your site provide valuable insight, knowledge and resources to your customers?
Perhaps your site is beyond housekeeping and requires an entire remodel because you have had it for several years and it hasn’t been maintained properly. Is your site outdated and difficult for people to navigate and interact with? Is it difficult to maintain or is it challenging to add new multimedia content? Having your home in shape and easy to maintain and update is key to effective social media because of the necessity to provide timely content to readers.
Is There Anybody Out There?
Just because you think your competitors or customers are involved in social media is not itself a reason to jump in. You need to know who is already there and what they are doing. If your competitors are there, what can you learn from them? What platforms are they using? What are customers saying about or to them? Do they have an audience, and if so, how are they interacting with their audience? It can be more important to listen in social media than to talk.
And what about your customers? Are they online and are they talking about you? One of my favorite activities to do with business owners is to head to search.twitter.com and run various searches on different keys from their key ring. More often than not, the business owner is amazed at the number of people and comments that are returned. Just because you and your business are not participating in social media, does not mean that people are not talking about you.
If your competitors or customers are not yet involved, consider asking if there is value to you being an industry leader and blazing a trail. Are you sure that is a role you want to take on? Sometimes being first is not always the best strategy and there may be a very good reason an industry or customer presence is missing. What might those reasons be? Do you face legal, privacy, industry, regulatory or some other hurdle that makes social media difficult for your business? Do your customers prefer different methods of communication?
The Wrap: A Plan And A Purpose
By considering and answering the above questions, you are now ready to begin looking at specific social media tools and tactics and creating an implementation plan. By taking an honest look at where your business is heading, assembling your resources, fully utilizing your current sites, knowing how people are going to find you and who is already out there looking for your business, you can better address the opening questions. Social media, like any good business tool, when combined with a definite plan that aims to address specific objectives, can be harnessed to make a significant impact on the bottom line. To your online success…
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