Running a small business can be tough. The main challenge is trying to find time to get everything done. If you have a small team you can delegate tasks but as a manager most of the main responsibilities lie on your shoulders.
You spend you time serving customers, taking orders, arranging delivery, managing finances and the list goes on. So wasting time is the last thing you want to do. But when it comes to social media this is exactly what a lot of small businesses do – waste time. Eventually becoming tired of it all and unable to make any progress.
You May Also Like:
Most typical small businesses have presence on social media. But look at their Facebook page and you realize that it’s deserted. Apart from a few pictures, posts and an old event, the only thing this page has going for it is a handful of customers and friends who have joined the page on the night of the grand opening. It’s the same story on Twitter. Yes you have a few posts but they are just that, few and far apart. I bet your customers have some questions and you have cool stuff happening all the time and as almost all of your customers use Facebook and Twitter why not leverage them?
It all starts with providing a good reason for why your customers should connect with your brand on social networks, not once but again and again. Knowing your customer preferences is key to providing valuable content, but it doesn’t stop there. Constant monitoring should be carried out to establish how customers needs are changing and what they are expecting from this channel now as opposed to last month. Effective brand engagement is directly linked to the value customers take away from the branded social experience and how closely their expectations are met.
Its quite fascinating that marketing on social media has so many promises. If done right it can be extremely effective. It also very efficient and allows for fast growth rate. Your customers use these sites on daily basis and they are constantly discussing product experiences and researching purchase decisions. But before you drop everything and rush to the nearest computer you need to know that your business’s social media engagement requires time an nourishment in early stages.
Strategy is key to becoming successful on social medial. It’s all about networking and ongoing conversations with your customers. It’s probably the easiest place to find new leads, tell them about your brand and turn them into valuable customers. You can’t just promote your business and products all the time, in fact it is the biggest reason why customers un-follow brands online – because they talk about their products too much. There is nothing wrong with promoting your business, heck that what you are here for. But it’s not what you do, but the way you do it. Strategy is key.
So how do make sure you get the most out of social media?
- Know where you need to be.
Location is very important in business, so being on the right social media channels is the first step. For this you need to look at what sort of business you have. You probably already know what market segment your customers are in. This helps figure out what social networks most of your customers use. You need to be where they are and where they are talking to each other.
Remember it’s also important to engage on channels you are comfortable with. If the channel doesn’t feel like a good fit, if its not something you can commit to sticking with over a period of time, if it doesn’t suit you for engaging on regular basis, then think again before you start, create a noise, then abandon the channel, which would be worse than not starting in the first place.
- Write for your customers not yourself.
In order to have a meaningful dialog with customers you need to know what they are talking about. Think about questions you hear every day from your customers. Discussion board are old but they are still useful. You need to look at what people are talking about on discussion boards. A good place to start is Yahoo. Look through your home page on Twitter or Facebook, answer some questions, ask for feedback, say something inspiring. You need to have great stories to tell to your customer. If you don’t have great in house story telling skills or a social media whiz kid on staff, you can still attract ideal customers online.
Small businesses can develop ways to get great things they do in the real world and turn them into valuable content for their website. An example of this can be how you’re helping customers to solve problems and achieve goals. You can focus on sharing unique how-to information on social media website popular with your customers. You need to give your company a personality on social media. Ask customers questions and feedback, they are more than happy to share, you just need to be asking the right questions.Their feedback can give you ideas for promotions, offerings or new blog posts.
- Provide an incentive
People love deals and they love shearing them with friends and family. Recent surveys show that offers are one of the top reasons why people follow brands on social network sites. By giving them something exclusive you can make them feel special, don’t forget to encourage them to share this offer with friends on Facebook or Twitter. It’s a great way to build your brand and increase your following fast.
- Have something good to say.
You know it, content is king and social media is an ongoing conversation so if you don’t have anything good to say you will never stand out. You have to add a variety to you posts, make them more dynamic. By this I mean add links, pictures, videos, articles, run contests and share good content.
People love good heartwarming quotes, they also like humor, but remember to keep a good balance. Share stories of your customers and get involved. Your followers are your online community, make their experience fun and worthwhile for them. The benefit of doing all this is that it creates conversation and positive attitude about your brand, what more can you ask for?
- Keep Going
- If Your Business Does Not Have A Social Media Presence Then Your Business Is Invisible
- Only Social Businesses Succeed In Social Media
- Using Social Media to Find Business Contacts
Find original post here.
No comments:
Post a Comment