Dynamic Business

Gone are the days of simply deciding on a marketing message and shouting it over and over again as loud as possible. We continually hear about how larger companies have utilised social media to communicate with their customers but conversely, statistics show SMEs are not having an impact in this space; in fact, they are not doing much at all.

Yet, it is more important than ever that SMEs get their share of the social media pie, with more than 500 million people on social networking websites like Facebook, they can’t afford not to.

Social media is also the perfect space for SMEs to promote themselves because it is cost effective, simple enough to understand and builds community, which is what small business is all about. With today’s technology, there is no need for costly advertising, just a little bit of social media savvy.

Social media is a phenomenon that is just growing and growing and can’t be ignored any longer. The good news is – implementing a social media strategy if you are an SME is both affordable and achievable. Below are four steps to follow.

Step 1: Listen to what is being said

Completing an online brand audit is the most important step in the process of formulating a social media strategy. You have to know what customers are saying about your brand, your competitor’s brand, and the industry as a whole before simply jumping online and starting a Twitter account and crossing your fingers. What are customers saying about the brand (good and bad), and how are you going to reinforce and build upon the positive and learn from the negative. Are your competitors on social media? What are customers saying about them and can you learn from their mistakes? Finally, what is being said about your brand’s industry is important, can you learn from it?

It is impossible to not complete this first step as it will dictate where to go next. There are many free tools as well as professional ones available to assist with an online brand audit, however utilising a professional social media monitoring tool – such as the world’s leading technology SM2 – will save time and provide a lot more and better organised information.

[Next: Plan your social media strategy]