Social Media As A Business Tool?

So last week we announced that we have officially started Social Media Marketing.  Stephenie is in charge of this department.  We have been experimenting with Social Media for business for about 6 months.  We have learned the do’s and don’ts.  So the question I get asked a lot is “Why don’t I just have my receptionist do it?”.  Great question by the way because that’s what I would have recommended months ago until I have seen some disasters happen.  First and foremost I know you probably love your receptionist but what if she quit or got mad?  What if she undid every positive thing you have accomplished in Social Media with one post and ruined your reputation?  Well, it’s happened on more than one occasion.  I recommend if the owner can’t do it then it needs to be outsourced to a company that you can trust.  Your Social Media Property is probably more important than your sign out front or even possibly your testimonies.  It doesn’t matter what type of business it is, Social Media is growing at rates that most Online Marketers can’t even keep up with.  We currently maintain 5 Twitter accounts and 6 Facebook accounts.

So Ryan what have you learned during this time of investigating Social Media?  Well here are some do’s and don’ts of Social Media…..

Do’s

1. Post often but post meaningful info that people would be enticed to re post to others.  Factual stuff that most people don’t know.
2. Ask questions…..make people think.
3. If your local…..Post that you are giving away a free gift for the first person to come pick up at your office.  This will keep people watching your tweets and make it interactive.  Oh and the gift better be good or no one is going to walk through the door.  I would probably suggest telling them what the gift is.
4. Social Media can be about spreading “GOOD”.  You know, doing good deeds.  If you are slow one afternoon, offer a free service for the first person to tweet or post “YOUR BUSINESS IS THE BEST”.
5. Be personable.  Show your human.  Re post or retweet other peoples interesting posts.  Post about your vacation, baby you just had, or interesting things about your staff.
6. Business pictures for sure, but don’t be afraid to show you’re human here also.  People want to get to know you if you are cool.  Be cool and post funny pictures of the staff.
7. Tell people when they come in to join you on Facebook and Twitter.
8. People like to hear about milestones in your business…post about them.  It’s ok to tell folks about your success.  Example: We reached our goal for this quarter, thanks to my team.  That sort of thing is ok in moderation.
9. Promote that you use Social Media on your website.
10. Join forces with your target market by searching for them and befriending or following them.

Don’t

1. Post about every thing you do….we don’t need to know you are going to the bathroom or that your eating lunch.  We know you do these things, we don’t need to know when.
2. Let your employees have the only access to your social media.
3. Fire the employee that has the only access to your social media Think smart here!  Gain control of your social media first.  You would think I wouldn’t have to put this but it is happening everyday.  You will lose if posts come from a minimum wage employee saying you just fired her because of……
4. Post a hundred times a day.  It’s annoying.  If you have to think about what to post for 5 minutes you probably shouldn’t post.
5. Do not ask everyone in the world to be your friend.
6. Your Social Media property is like your domain name (www.yourdomain.com) so don’t let your competitors get it before you do.  It’s happening.
7. Don’t complain!!!  Please!  You will lose people fast.
8. Talk all business.
9. Give trade secrets that your competitors will use against you.
10. Send private messages and direct messages to people all the time.  Keep that to a minimum.

So that’s it in a nutshell.  If you have any questions or need help getting started we don’t mind answering your questions.