Can you really gain market share with social media? That’s the big question we discussed in this week’s #SM4SMB conversation on Twitter. And the overall sentiment was YES, as long as companies follow these 5 rules:
Use the right tools for the right audience
Twitter and Facebook are not the answers to every social media problem. If you are a publishing company, for example, building author profiles on Amazon will sell way more books than Twitter and Facebook can.
“There seems to be an extreme trend among youth toward many forms of social media. Even people who are older than most would consider inside the tech savvy generation are falling in love with facebook & twitter. Using these forms of media allow you to capture all demographics.” @sitesketch101
Make sure you are using the right social media for the right audience!
Connect with real people
One of the challenges companies face though is how to build real relationships with people. Most have no practice since social media hasn’t been around in the past, and the only way for companies to build relationships was face-to-face.
“I mentioned the In-N-Out restaurant chain in a tweet, and they found me and replied. That’s making it personal.” @meanttolive
Likewise, I mentioned that @OneRiot always responds to me when I give them a free plug. They followed up later, offering me some freebies because I mention them so often in my Twitter stream!
Personally, I like when one specific person runs the social media for a company. It’s easier for companies to have real conversations with real people when there is a person representing the company. Ultimately, people connect with people on social media, not companies.
“A dedicated person involved in social media can definitely represent a company & engage followers,thus building brand loyalty.” @franklogic
JOIN the conversation
@norcross asks, “But are the businesses willing to actually be part of the conversation? What motivates those businesses to participate?”
“Most are not ‘in a conversation’ they just make promotional announcements, they miss the point, it’s just more spam”@GSWoodward
“I completely agree about the spam statement. They do that because it works for some people. But it’s lousy to most.” @sitesketch101
I agree – It seems too many businesses still do social media half-heatedly. It doesn’t work – social media takes effort, strategy, and long-term investment to get benefits. Too many companies dabble in social media because people tell them they should, and they just do it without putting any strategy or goals behind it. Dabbling is ultimately bad; it’s all or nothing, and doing social media half-heatedly hurts the company brand.
Talk about others, give, give, make it not about your company
I ask, How?
“By interacting personally like I’m doing with you right now. Questions. Answers. Conversation. Provide their users with resources, quotes, questions & information. I think too often people load their tweets with personal links. I do this too much. Getting real with people is vital!” @sitesketch101
“Write how their own personal customer services had helped their clients. People read these & start building trust.” @franklogic
There are tons of ways to create content that relate to your company, without overly self-promoting yourself.
Capture your contact list and follow-up
The way to capture who your company is interacting with on social media depends on which tools your company is using. For example, you could ask the customer for an email address so you can provide feedback. On Twitter, you can find the person’s real name and learn more about them in a professional way by responding to their tweets. On Facebook, there is a messaging system to interact with customers.
Thanks again to everyone who participated in the conversation tonight! The next conversation is on July 22, 2009 from 8pm-9pm CST on Twitter. You can join by using the hashtag #SM4SMB to tag social media tips on Twitter during this time, then heading over to the #SM4SMB website to read all the updates.
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Connecting with real people is really an important aspect of social media but inability to follow up or giving up s on people so soon does a lot of harm to building any relationship
Real people should respond to bloggs, not preformed computer outputs.
The old idea still works: Give, Give and then Give again. That has always helped my businesses grow and gain strength and it will for any of you.
Share what you know worked for you and explain why it worked. Maybe, just maybe it will be the answer someone needs to hear.
Strategy and goal setting play a huge part in getting it right when it comes to social media. We provide a free resource to help companies focus on what they need to be thinking about when it comes to their own strategy – The Social-smart Social Media Campaign Checklist – http://socialsmart.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/the-social-smart-social-media-campaign-checklist/ – hope it helps!
Monica–
This is great advice. Too often, I see not only big companies but small businesses and individuals just shouting at their followers. Engaging is conversation is the key to getting the most out of social media.
As a case in point, Twitter recently canceled the accounts of Tweeters that were considered “spammy”. It just shows that accounts that do not provide value are considered extra baggage.
Thanks for this post and the great advice.
–Daryl Lozupone