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Social media best practices for business
The influence of social media is undeniable and something smart businesses can’t ignore. Barack Obama proved this when he successfully leveraged social media to ultimately win the coveted seat in the White House. Countless other businesses have leveraged social media to increase sales and support for their brand as well.
Yet, businesses that excitedly leap into social media without a clear strategy will quickly learn that it’s not as easy as it appears. Building a strong social media platform involves many elements, as gleaned from the Building and Protecting Reputation 2010 conference hosted by Communitelligence, Inc. last week.
What’s at stake
The beauty of social media is the speed. Within minutes, a business can start a blog, create a Facebook fan page, and start tweeting. Yet, the danger of social media is the speed. Businesses that attempt to quickly saturate the social media space are at risk of appearing inauthentic. Even worse, if resources are not available to manage the on-going activity needed to maintain a social media presence, the business’ reputation could be at stake.
Understand how social media works
Whether you’re new to social media, or you were an early-adopter who never fully leveraged it as a marketing strategy, there are steps you can take to successfully (re)launch your social media presence. It begins by understanding that social media is unlike traditional marketing tactics that are largely focused on pushing information to a target audience (i.e. radio/TV ads, press releases, sales brochures, etc.).
Instead, social media marketing is about pulling people toward your business in a way that increases loyalty and enthusiasm. CJ Cornell (@cjcornell), Professor of Digital Media & Entrepreneurship at Arizona State University, suggests four ways you can increase the viral effects of your social media strategy to pull people toward your business:
- Attention: Listen to your target audience because in social media it’s not just about you – it’s about the relationship. Quality relationships start with seeking first to understand, then to be understood.
- Contribution: Offer value that isn’t veiled in a sales pitch. Social media offers businesses an opportunity to be a thought leader in their field. This means sharing information of value, even if it’s not directly linked to making a sale.
- Interaction: The foundation of social media is the relationship it builds between a brand and its audience. You must participate and be an positive voice in the the conversations that matter to your customers.
- Consistency: Abandoned and neglected social media identities are worse than not having one at all. It all comes down to trust. Inconsistency and lack of follow through diminish trust. If you’re going to participate in social media, be all in or not at all.
Insights at work
Your practical application of social media will be a marketing recipe that uniquely fits your business. However, there are best practices that can help:
Start with a core focus. Marianne Curran (@marcurran), Vice President of Social Media for GoDaddy.com, suggests having a primary intent when launching a social media strategy. For GoDaddy.com it was customer service. Already a leader in delivery high-quality customer service, GoDaddy.com wanted to further enhance that brand and discovered success in social media. You’ll notice their GoDaddy twitter page not only shows the faces of the GoDaddy.com staff tweeting, but is filled with replies to customer needs too.
Be where the customers are. Jeramie McPeek (@sunswebmaster), Vice President, Digital for the Phoenix Suns, says their social media strategy is used to engage the fan base and build support for the team. With 30 employees and eight players tweeting, the Phoenix Suns connects personally with their fans one tweet at a time. They tweet giveaways that not only encourages fan participation, but creates a viral buzz for the team.
Create a groundswell. Rick Clancy (@rickclancy), former Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications for Sony Electronics, lead the company’s first blog roll out in 2007. That blog led to the development of more community sites and micro-sites. Creating a groundswell for your business means helping people get what they need, not necessarily from your business, but from the community that you create around your brand.
Measuring success
Decide social media metrics in advance. Knowing your goals will influence the direction your social media strategy takes. Every business will have unique measures of success, but common metrics include:
- Number of fans or followers
- Web site traffic
- Number of brand mentions
- Tracking and source code
- % growth of community
Incite-ful bottom line
Done properly, social media is a powerful medium that enables businesses to increase brand reputation, loyalty, and ultimately, profits. However, your business must move outside of the traditional marketing mindset that interrupts and intrudes. Social media has caused “friend” to become a verb for good reason. Your customer is not just someone to pitch, but a virtual friend.
Target marketing hits the mark
Today’s buyer is hyper-discerning and more sophisticated than ever. They want companies to speak directly to their unique needs. One-size-fits-all marketing just doesn’t work.
Zero in on targeted customers and hit the profit bulls-eye.
For growing businesses, branching out into new markets is a smart move to increase revenue and market share. But use caution! Don’t be lured by the false belief that marketing products and services with broad appeal is best, even at this stage of your success.
When broadening your market, don’t forget the basics of niche marketing. Seasoned businesses must remember these five critical reasons for specializing your business offerings, especially during times of growth:
Reason #1. A niche business gives you focus.
Without a niche, you’re marketing and selling to prospects using the “spaghetti approach.” You throw out as much effort and money (the “spaghetti”) as you can afford, and then see what sticks to the wall (your “customer”). Unfortunately, most of that spaghetti slides off because it was thrown at the wrong wall. With a niche, you may still spend the same amount of money and expend the same level of effort, but the spaghetti sticks because you’ve focused on a customer who was ready to eat your spaghetti right up! At the end of the day, this means better return on your time and money investments.
Reason #2. A niche business gives you expertise status.
Customers love to buy from a specialist. Period. It’s far easier to buy products or services from a company that knows the intricate nuances of a particular industry, subject matter or problem. You don’t want to be the business that is the “jack of all trades, master of none.” Potential customers will flee and those who stay are unwilling to pay what you’re worth because the perceived value of a generalist is lower than a specialist.
Reason #3. A niche business makes you stand out.
If you think you’re in the business of selling widgets, think again. Every entrepreneur, regardless of his product or service, is in the business of marketing. To create a sustainable company, you must constantly be marketing and you’ve got to stand out from a very crowded business marketplace. Imagine that you’re Waldo from the popular children’s book series, “Where’s Waldo.” What is your business doing to show it’s different, unique and special? In Waldo’s case, it’s a red and white striped hat and shirt. A niche gives you the differentiating factor that you need. What’s your Waldo factor?
Reason #4. A niche business costs less to operate.
Don’t fall into the belief that the more people you tell about your business, the more business you’ll get. It’s only partly true. The truer statement is this – “The more targeted people you tell about your business the higher the likelihood they will convert into a sale.” The cost to tell everyone in the world about your business is far higher than developing a niche campaign that only reaches your most qualified prospects, the ones who have a need and desire for your product or service. You want to invest your resources to attract customers that have a genuine interest in what you’re selling. It’s just good business sense, and it saves you a lot of money.
Reason #5. A niche business earns more money.
The culmination of having a market focus, expertise status, stand-out appeal and lean operations is money, and lots more of it. When you niche your business, you just run more efficiently and effectively. Once you’ve mastered one niche and you’re ready to expand, go for it! Chances are, the niches that you carve out after the first one will be smoother and faster because you already have a base of loyal customers who love what you do and want more of it.
The bottom-line: Yes, reaching into new markets can be an effective growth strategy so long as you employ niche marketing perspective to your approach.
It’s all about me
As harsh as it may sound, we live in a world where our wants come before others. When faced with a choice or decision, we instinctively wonder, “What’s in it for me?”
But to effectively capture the attention and support of customers, businesses must move away from this instinct and begin applying an important principle borrowed from Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
Most businesses fail to follow this basic principle when developing marketing and employee communication copy. Instead, their written communication is laden with “it’s all about me” language that doesn’t resonate with their target audience.
It’s not about you.
I’m convinced that the primary problem with most business communication is that the writer doesn’t take time to fully understand their target audience first. Rather, the writer is consumed with telling about benefits and making a sale. As a result the content screams, “Understand me! Understand my value! Understand what I can do for you!” Unfortunately, that kind of writing just falls flat to a reader who is really consumed with themselves.
It’s about the customer
Companies can remedy this by seeking to understand the unique qualities of their prospects and customers before settling down to deliver key messages to them. Here’s how:
Never assume understanding.
I’m a working mother and in 2005, I created a blog for working mothers. It’s safe to assume that I know a lot about juggling my career and my family. Many working moms have struggles similar to my own. Yet, I can never assume that sharing anecdotes and advice based on my experience alone will benefit my audience. Each of my readers brings a unique perspective that longs to be recognized and understood, so I craft my posts with that in mind.
Do your homework.
If you’re a massive corporate conglomerate with a deep marketing budget, you may be able to get away with generic messages to reach a broad audience. But growing businesses with a fledgling marketing budget, will find better return on investment by taking time to hone in on the unique needs and interests of their target market. Invest in truly understanding your customers – internal and external. Coming to this kind of understanding about your customers builds your credibility and their trust in you, which translates into higher productivity and increased sales.
Keep communication open and on-going.
Some businesses will conduct an initial round of market research to better understand their target audience and that’s it. The problem with this approach is change. People, their interests and their needs evolve. Your business must constantly be in contact with your prospects and customers to ensure you understand when and how these changes affect them and their buying habits.
The incite-ful bottom line
Understanding creates connection. When you take time to understand your target audience first, whether they need your product or service is secondary to the connection you’ve built. The feeling of being seen, recognized and understood goes a long way toward attracting and retaining customers. Spend time getting to know your target audience, express that understanding in your written materials and notice the profit needle move up rather than down.
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