Why business should join the social media conversation
What opportunities do social media present for businesses?
- Affordable communication to a wide audience – regular engagement across relevant social media platforms can replace monthly email newsletters
- Grow your database through people who become “followers” or “readers”
- Extend your customer reach geographically – a local business can now expect contact beyond their physical territories
- Direct customer feedback – ask your customers to rate and review your products and services
- Expert opinion – publish your views on current news or related items that directly influence your industry
- Resources – your business can become the significant point of reference in your field by publishing your opinion and sharing your knowledge
- Build PR around your business – increase your personal and brand profile through participation
Tips for Implementation
1. Immerse yourself
2. Participate and listen to understand
3. Identify your business objectives
4. Start small and stay focused
5. Define your strategy
6. Choose your tools careful
7. Be prepared to respond
8. Monitor your success
9. Adjust your strategy
10. Start at number 1!
CASE STUDY: AUSTRALIAN BUSINESSWOMEN’S NETWORK
Suzi Dafnis, community director of the Australian Businesswomen’s Network, has been using Twitter for months. She says: “I’ll use it to pose a question on either a newsletter I’m working on or a blog post I’m writing to find out what my community wants to hear about. I get great ideas for content for our site and newsletters.
“We’ve been successfully driving up the traffic to our site by posting references to new posts on our site or blog as well as the addition of new content. Search engines like tweets and if you’re using your keywords in them it will help put you ahead of your competition when it comes to search.
“We’ve built the relationships with our members—who we encourage to join Twitter—by actively communicating with them. Because of the viral aspects of Twitter, our community has grown with new subscribers and ‘followers’ who we may not have been able to reach before.”
Follow Suzi on Twitter @suzidafnis
CASE STUDY: ACE VIRTUAL ASSISTANCE
Jodi Gibson runs Ace Virtual Assistance from home. “My impression of Twitter was that it was for teenagers and those with way too much time on their hands and in no way could be beneficial for a soloist like me,” she says.
“How wrong was I? Through Twitter I have been able to connect with so many likeminded professionals and knowledgeable contacts that have been invaluable to my business. I have had access to a wealth of information from links to blogs, articles and news items that are posted, and have also been able to share my finds, blog and resources.
“Since beginning Twitter my website and blog traffic has increased dramatically and my Google ranking improved. For smart small business operators, marketing with Twitter is about making new contacts, sharing information and ideas, and developing new relationships all in turn getting your business and brand name out there to be seen.”
Follow Jodi on Twitter @JodiAceVA
CASE STUDY: KOGAN TECHNOLOGIES
Ruslan Kogan is using Twitter to communicate directly and indirectly—in full view of an online audience—to journalists and consumers. He regularly tweets while on the road between Sydney and China, where he visits manufacturers of consumer electronics products he sells online.
Twitter forms just one—but very important—online tool Kogan Technologies uses to communicate with its customers and relevant media. The company also operates a blog and a newsletter service as part of an integrated online marketing effort.
A key approach to Ruslan’s efforts to market his company through Twitter is to keep Tweets short, sharp and relevant to the audience. Kogan Technologies has a staff of 10.
Follow Ruslan on Twitter @ruslankogan
CASE STUDY: BABYSITTERDIRECTORY.COM.AU
Babysitterdirectory.com.au is an online community that connects parents directly with babysitters and nannies. The site launched in beta in June 2008 and owner Ann Nolan started using Twitter in October when she was tipped off about it by a US-based friend.
“At first I noticed there really weren’t that many average Australians using it,” she says. “In the beginning, most of my followers and the people I was following tended to be overseas. I found that in the US especially there were a lot of women entrepreneurs using Twitter, and for me and my market that was fascinating.
“As a player in conversational marketing, if you don’t use it wisely as a business, it will fail for you. At Babysitterdirectory we are using Twitter to build brand recognition, raise awareness about our blog and website, and of course to network with other related companies both in Australia and overseas. It’s all exciting stuff!”
Follow Ann on Twitter @babysitterdirec
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Great post, Ann. Let me add to the conversation by taking it in a slightly different direction.
Critical to the success of any social media strategy is the TYPE of person you appoint to implement it on a daily basis. Above all else, this person needs to have a FEEL for it; they need to be more of an artist than an engineer.
Try this metaphor for size: when you think of ‘social media’, think of ‘jazz’. In particular, think of improvised jazz. Yes, there’s some structure, and some rules may be followed, but at its very heart is the ability to make it up as you go along.
The best jazz musicians have a ‘feel’ for what works; they aren’t robots enslaved by ‘methodology’. The way they play their instrument is guided by their mood … by the mood of the audience … by the atmosphere. What actually happens on that very night, in that very room, can’t be predicted. And can’t be controlled.
So it is with social media. Whoever executes your social media strategy, day to day, should have more in common with a jazz muso than a classical pianist. Both highly talented, agreed, but send the classical guy to work in Accounts.
Running an effective social media campaign is about ‘living in the moment’ … ‘going with the flow’ … ‘being in the zone’. Why? Because the fans fiddling with Facebook, and the tweeps tweeting on Twitter are all doing just that. It’s all about NOW.
Like the mood of the jazz room, trends are transient, fads are fleeting, and only the player with the gift of intuition can ‘play to the crowd’. Heard of ‘Susan Boyle’? ‘Fair shake of the sauce bottle’? ‘Utegate’? In the nanosecond world of social media, such trends skyrocket then crash and burn, while the mainstream media is still stammering, ‘What happened?’
When you’re choosing someone to make your social media campaign happen on a daily basis, if they have a clarinet in their hand, give them the job. If not, ask them if they know the meaning of ‘bohemian’ or ‘zeitgeist’. If they don’t, wish them well and shout, ‘Next!’
I can’t improvise with a saxophone; I just do it with comedy at product launches and other corporate events. But there’s always that same magic … that same warmth … when moods and ideas connect. Jokes … jazz … whatever ignites the right connections between brands and people. That’s what you’re after. You can’t hold it in your hand … you can’t exactly plan for it … you can’t really measure it. But by God you know when it’s there.
Happy improvising.
Good post.
With regard to Graeme’s note above above getting the right person to implement the strategy on a daily basis I believe that person in fact needs to be the client.
It is therefore important for the social media strategist to include training and mentoring rather than simply taking over the process for a client. Sure their skills are ‘the big picture strategy’ but everyday conversations and listening needs to occur by the client for an authentic/real dialogue to occur.
Cheers
Aside from the ease of use and mass influence, social media also offers a lot of features or application a business can take advantage of. Facebook, Twitters and so many others continue to develop apps that are helpful to your business and this is why social media is such a great tool in making your business a success.