Social Media dos and don'ts for small and medium businesses

David Foale, Optus Small and Medium Business Social Media Product Manager said, “Creating a social media strategy is no longer optional, it is vital to the health of a small business and its ability to tap into an online user-base.

If you aren’t engaging online, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to gain new customers and fans who will effectively market for you if given enough reason.

Here are a some tips to help small business get started engaging in social media.

Do’s

1. Research which social media tools suit your business and get to know them before you start to participate. Research which sites your suppliers and clients use and check out the profile of your followers, are your followers your target market?

2. Choose one tool to start with. Set up your profile before you start interacting. As you gain confidence begin to expand and use a combination of sites

3. Join a conversation – don’t just add a comment but add value

4. Promote your social media presence
Integrate your social media marketing with your other marketing activities. Add links to your website, business cards and email signature to your social media profile. Ensure that your contact points with your customers include your social media details.

5. Social media marketing will drive more traffic to your website. Make sure your site is up to speed with information and content that is updated regularly

6. Avoid the hard sell
If you do nothing but the hard sell people will lose interest and will not continue to follow you. By providing things such tips and tricks, product reviews and forums it provides a reason for customers to continue to follow your network and your business.

7. Be Consistent.
If you use a combination of sites ensure that your profile, branding and the language used are consistent between all your social media sites.

8. Set goals
Set weekly, monthly or quarterly goals on how many people are following you and how much time you invest in social media

9. Update your social media- Keep at it.
Make sure you update your networks a rule of thumb is you will need to update social networking site (Facebook,LinkedIn) and least twice a week where as people expect microblogging sites such as Twitter and Facebook™ to be updated once a day. The cost to your business is time but the value could be phenomenal as new opportunities present themselves as well as your understanding of the tools and businesses using them increases.

Don’ts

1. Ignore feedback
You may receive negative feedback from time to time, collect your clients’ details and deal with the situation outside of your forum or message board ensuring that you post a reply to the feedback that is being addressed. Ensure you keep on top of customer’s comments and feedback. Its’ important to get back to your customers’ comments in a reasonable time frame.

2. Be defensive
Social media is a level playing field – it’s important not to come off as aggressive or overly defensive if someone doesn’t agree with your point of view. Be sure not to get caught up in a war of words that could damage your company’s long term reputation.

3. Spam your customers
There is a fine line between being helpful, and clogging someone’s newsfeed or inbox with something that isn’t relevant to them. Make sure you take the time to make sure what you’re doing is tailored and relevant to people who you’re connecting with

4. Forget it’s supposed to be fun
People use social media to connect with friends, share stories and information. While you might want to promote your brand, remember that you need to make sure your messages are medium specific – probably better to save the serious release about raising your prices to a more formal channel!

5. Do it by half measures
A Facebook group with a handful of members or a Twitter profile with 5 followers can be damaging for your brand. Many companies get excited about social media and soon lose enthusiasm, leaving their ventures to die a slow death. Make sure that if you’re in it – you’re in it for the long haul.

By Simone Bergholcs

Find out how Optus can help you build your business with a great range of solutions designed for business builtforbusiness.com.au .