6 thoughts to consider before you “get social”

There’s been some talk as to whether or not small businesses should get into social media. Connie, the Program Director for The Circuit, stopped by to tell us a few concerns that small business owners have shared with her. Part of the problem for small business professionals is that they haven’t got the bandwidth to invest the time (or dollars for that matter) into doing it right, so they hope the whole social media thing is just a fad.

Bad news.

Social media is not a fad. It’s not going anywhere.

Connie shared the top 6 issues that she sees small businesses have with social media. Some are legitimate, others are myths.

Let’s discuss ‘em!

#1 “Social media is littered with privacy risks, right?”
Obviously you won’t want to post your SSN# or a list of your phobias on your Facebook wall, but following a simple approach of using reason, will mitigate nearly all of the risk. You’re creating an account for your company, not for your personal life. Controls exist to protect you and your customer’s information, but you have to know where to look and what to do once you find them. There are customizable settings for each platform and numerous resources for recommended settings.

Here is a quick guide for Facebook settings.

You can be both “private” and “social.” Weird, huh? I’ve been working in social media since 2004 and have never run across a privacy issue that couldn’t be handled through protocol management.

#2 “It’s impossible to tell ROI with social media!”
Although it’s difficult to concretely define ROI for social media, and increasingly more difficult to find success stories of companies with ROI, it isn’t impossible. If you chose to do a 30 second radio commercial, you could track success over time through contacts and conversions. Social media can be tracked the same way. But should it? Although social media can be used to drive sales, it’s best utilized for opening lines of communication with your consumers.

“Content is king, engagement is queen, and conversion is the golden chalice!” – L. Sumpter, Managing Director, Welt Branding

Here’s one company that sees ROI from social media.

#3 “Social media takes up too much time!”
As much as I’d like to tell you to type and click twice a day, I feel obligated to inform you that social media is time consuming. You need to devote enough time to communicate with the consumers that choose to communicate with you. Be diligent and proactive.

You run a small business, so extra time is something you don’t have. A useful solution (budget permitting) is outsourcing your social media, but if you don’t have the resources to do so, set up your social media to fit your work schedule. There are a variety of apps that make it easy to manage your social media efforts on the go (I love my Blackberry!).

Let’s say you only spend one hour on social media for the whole day, make sure you are using the time to create conversations with users. Don’t use your hour to make a sales pitch, use your time to engage. If your customer is showing up in your social media environment, they know you sell things already. Heck, they might even be a fan!

There are many people outside of business, who do a bang up job of building strong social media campaigns and maintaining them. But to be honest, even though leaving social media in the hands of professionals comes with a price, you can expect results (that was my “sales pitch,” did I engage you?).

#4 “Do I need a strategy?”
The success of any social media effort is predicated on the idea that you need protocols in place to deal with exigent circumstances. Don’t believe me? Simply reference the BP crisis. While I know your business isn’t BP (unless it is, in which case, please contact us, we can help you!), knowing “what to do if…” ahead of time is of vital importance regardless of the size of your business. Here’s a link on which to think.

#5 “Facebook scares me! I may come off as stupid/irrelevant/negative; I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot!”
Ever have a conversation? Who knows your business better than you? Be honest and helpful, and you’ll have very little to worry about. Creating a social media presence isn’t like a roadside billboard where everyone that drives by is subjected to your message. If you create a Facebook fanpage for instance, the people that join you will either be like-minded consumers or those who find what you do interesting and valuable. That said, before you start your campaign, set the tone of your messages. It needs to line up with the promises your brand makes to your customers. Don’t have a brand? Check out Welt Branding, we’ll give you one!

Your customers want to talk to you. Get social!

#6 “Social media is free right?”
Nope. Total myth. Whether it’s the time you spend or the dollars you put toward it, social media has a cost. Done right, it offers an extraordinary return with a much smaller upfront cost than traditional media. Additionally, it’s incredibly flexible. You can try several campaigns quicker and cheaper than you could in any other medium. But, if you aren’t prepared to commit to the process or put the time and budget together, then you may get less than satisfying results.

To learn more about the best ways to approach social media, contact steve@weltbranding.com.

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