While there is no wrong way to eat an Oreo cookie, there are definitely some no-no’s when it comes to social media for your small business.
You might have already had some bad experiences. One of my first mistakes in social media was getting unfriended by a BIG celebrity because I innocently retweeted something very contentious (and in hindsight, unnecessary) that discredited them. Some of these mistakes might have been obvious to you, but some might still leave you thinking “what happened…?”
In order to help your small business find success with social media there are definitely some things to avoid and some things that you need to use in order to help you effectively increase leads, traffic and ultimately sales. Also, you needn’t feel that you have to walk into the frontier alone – utilizing the services of a social media experts or agencies -are a great way to get the customer engagement you are looking for on a guided basis.
Important: Do Provide Value
Essentially, social media is just another form of communication, which means you need to add value and create interesting content in order to get through to your fans, customers and potential business connections. Think about the types of things that you are able to share with all your fans that will encourage them to fall in love with you, and what you have to offer. The ultimate goal is to make people crave more of the content that you share. When you begin to add value, you will see people continually checking in on your social media presences to see what you have to say.
Don’t Be ‘Selfish’
This is a mistake, which unfortunately happens way to often with small businesses. If you are unsure what a selfish social media presence is for a business, it is a fairly easy concept to understand: it is posts that are only focused on you and your business. If you review your stream of posts and only see promotion after promotion, and posts that ask others to do something for you, then you have created a selfish social media presence. Just like in real life, selfishness in social media will not end well.
Do Take Time to Focus on What Counts
There are tons of social media networks out there; but this does not mean that you have to be present and active on every single one. The most important and the most valuable networks are the ones where your audience is. Thing about where your audience is most likely to hang out, take time to monitor where your social traffic is originating from and then spend your resources and time there. You can consider your social media as your billboard. If your business is in Los Angeles, it would be silly to place your billboard in Tokyo.
Don’t Take any Short Cuts
The old adage “Nothing in life is free” is true for social media in every way. There is no magic pill that will make your social media efforts successfully. You will have to consider the long-term. Purchasing followers is not going to get you anywhere and while you may believe that you are tricking others into believing you are popular and well-liked, any seasoned social media user will be able to see right through it. If you want to achieve real, visible results, you have to first understand that it takes time.
