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Is your business in the current social media cycle? If not, then you seriously need to think about changing that.
Here’s the reality and the truth … Social Media is NOT a fad. It has done nothing but grow in use and popularity since its inception. And now, in 2012, people are going beyond blogging and beyond simply posting photos and videos and are embracing new devices and experiences in the social media world.
Everything from the cloud and niche social sites to social TV and social shopping are the new frontiers.
McCann Worldgroup’s Chief Innovation Officer says:
“We will see the growing trends in which consumers expand their social media usage to more and across devices where they embrace the new social media experience as their primary source of content and in-depth community interaction.”
Social Media Today noted two emerging trends this year: Transmedia and Micro-Economy. Transmedia is:
“. . .telling a story by using surrounding context to determine the meaning for a participant.”
For example, Coca-Cola created an amusement park where guests swiped a wristband at kiosks located within the park that instantly upload to Facebook what they were doing, where they were doing it and how they were enjoying it.
Micro-Economy is where goods and services are brought forth on smaller scales with a bent towards personalization. This trend opens up opportunities to individual entrepreneurs who do not possess the manufacturing and distribution resources of the conventional companies. Pinterest, a social media site, is a virtual pin-board that allows users to organize and share all the things they love on the web.
Businesses must embrace these tools to stay relevant in today’s ever-expanding social world.
Here are 4 social media practices for business that can boost your results:
1) Use the social platforms in tandem: If you are an avid blogger, push out your material on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter so you are reaching all of your available audiences. Build Reach. Social dashboard tools are getting more popular allowing you to develop content, keep track of trending topics and manage your social profile all in one place.
2) Use the platforms where your customers live and engage: Do the research. Find out what social media tools your customers are using and reach them there. Just because something emerges and is hot doesn’t mean you should be or need to be on it. Use what works for you and your customer, converts them and gives you an ROI.
3) Evaluate, review, reapply: Like any other marketing tool, test the waters. If you find your efforts are not hitting the mark, try a new approach. Keep trying and testing, and look at what your competitors are having success doing.
4) Keep your information and content fresh and up to date: If you want to grow your community and business and you want people to consistently come back to and refer your sites than keep them interesting and fresh!
Here are some resources to help you do that:
- TechCrunch: A web publication that offers the latest tech news and analysis as well as profiling start-ups and new products.
- Social Media Examiner: An online social media magazine designed to help businesses discover how to best use social media tools to connect with customers, generate more brand awareness and increase sales.
- SocialMedia.biz: Helping businesses become social.
- “Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and more) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business:” by Ann Handley and CC Chapman
- “Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation and Earn Trust:” by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith
And Seth Godin has written more than a dozen bestsellers that will get you on the right social media marketing track.
One more resource I recommend is John Jantsch’s Duct Tape Marketing blog. John delivers smart, common sense and thoughtful marketing information for any small business. He suggests using “whatever converts and get’s you closer to your customer.”
Where are you in the social media marketing cycle for your business? How have they helped you boost your business?
Social Media Connection Photo via Shutterstock
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From my point of view, evaluation is very important. I like your saying Evaluate, review, reapply. Very useful article,
Munna, I agree. Most people don’t really know if their messaging is working. Thanks for your comment!
With increasing smartphone penetration, people will inherently use more social media because it is readily available on their mobile devices. This is a great opportunity for savvy SMBs.
Agreed Robert, choices and usage will only grow. BUT, use tech and platforms that your customers uses, not because it’s the hot one of the moment!
Great information, I will share it with my clients!
Thanks Carrie! Come back.
It’s so important to know that no social media platform is a “one size fits all” deal. Companies especially get jittery over Facebook and getting the most likes, but it’s all about finding your niche and integrating it with everything you do.
Exactly Stephanie. Integrated marketing consistently and keeping it fresh!
This is a great article for the social media novice. Nice work!
Thanks Joel. Work on becoming and savvy novice!
“Social media is not a fad.”
True words! Great article.
~Tammy, CEO @MarketMeSuite
Tammy, it still is astounding that way too many small businesses are not using and involved in these powerful communication and sales tools! Thanks.
Your Title Caught me Deborah. Often times businesses have not thought about the results they want when they jump onto social media platforms.
The point about “Micro-Economy” is also worth noting, mass production and mass broadcast does not cut it anymore.
Louisa, thanks for stopping by. I love trends and am fascinated by how they evolve with demographics. Social media is the most natural thing for us..We are social beings, social media is a social activity. Niche communities and targeting them is definitely the most effective and best use of time. Come back!
By simply adding the “innovation” facet to that interaction, organizations that shape the direction of their offerings based in part through social media user feedback are far more likely to deliver offerings that truly resonate with consumers than those that don’t.
Sarah, in today’s biz world that is so true and a reality that is important to accept. Thanks for your comment!
Thanks Deborah for compiling these invaluable insights – I wonder, which is the most challenging: to widen your reach.. or your influence on the Social Web? They say that in business, you have to measure everything so you know what to improve on, yet I’m coming to the conclusion that in social media marketing, not all things you measure really matter. Just a thought.
Shaleen, your welcome and thanks for stopping by and sharing! I believe reach and influence kind of work together. The more people that see your ideas the more opportunity to touch them and have them share it to their orbs! SMM ROI is so diverse. It’s not always about big numbers,it’s the who they are?
Thanks for great article. We are trying to use our social networks to help us get consumer votes for our small business, MeowSpace® (we sell a cat product that is utterly unique). Mission Small Business is holding a contest and will award 12 small startup businesses a large grant, but one of the qualifiers is that we must reach 250 consumer votes to be considered for the grant. I’m trying to figure out how to get beyond the 50 we’ve gotten so far. We have to do this in the next month to qualify. Any ideas welcome.
Casey, go full out on all your social media, email marketing, blog and make a list of some of your raving fans and get them working for you too. The “ripple” effect!It works! Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Deborah,
I did what you said, and we now have over 375 votes, so we made the minimum with 125 so far to spare. I connected personally with as many friends and customers as possible, and also asked other small businesses to support us. I selected businesses I liked, voted for them, then asked them for their vote. Mostly, though, our votes came from our Friends list, both directly and indirectly. Thanks again!
Casey, bravo!! keep working it and you will see it work even more over time!!
Great post and very helpful resources Deborah! I agree wholeheartedly about social media not being a fad at all. I believe that one helpful way SMBs can leverage SM without being overwhelmed is to plan out a “content calendar” in advance and allocate the time, even if it’s just 1 hour weekly to content creation/editing/revising. Spending time upfront to streamline social media activity can reduce the overwhelm – which is something all of us SMBs want to avoid!
Maria, this is a very smart suggestion and works really well to keep us accountable and consistent. Thanks for your comment!
Deborah nice simple 4 practices – the hard part is implementation. @Maria brings up the “content calendar” that many SMBs fail to prepare. Further, I think one of the implied sub-practices is the development of “original” content. Merely grabbing an article and retweeting or posting without adding value to your client base is just plain useless. I still struggle with the ability to make SM actionable as you replied to @Shaleen SM ROI is a diverse measure and may actually be unmeasurable at this time for SMBs. But, it is still marketing and getting your story out, sharing ideas, and keeping clients and potential clients engaged is the opportunity that SM provides.
Brian, the challenge for all blogging and bloggers is inspiration and consistency. The content calendar is a great tool. I also suggest laying out 25 topic ideas that relate to one’s expertise that can be used as content ideas. Also keeping a journal or notebook close by and writing ideas as they come up. My daily life is rich for that! Thanks for your comment!
Thanks for an insightful article! I think that research and analysis is very important is social media marketing. Unfortunately, there are so many small companies who are wasting their time and money without reaching anyone.
I believe that it is better not to use social media channels then, if you are not prepared to spend some time on it.
Diane, I couldn’t agree more. Monitoring your metrics can help engagement and interest. Even a little consistent effort can make a big difference with social media. Thanks for stopping by.