If you are not using social media in your business yet then have you asked yourself why?
The most common reasons why business owners are have not considered social media generally include lack of understanding of the process, no understanding of the tools and failure to see relevance to what they do.
Today social media can’t be ignored, if you are not using it, chances are your competitors are, your customers certainly are, and if you’re ignoring it then accepting it is for one of the reasons above is the first stage in properly considering what it is, how you do it and finally what it can do for your business.
Here is our checklist for reviewing Social Media for your business.
1. B2B or B2C: Depending on whether your customers are other companies or end-users, you would use different tools. If you are mainly B2C then Facebook is likely to be the number 1 choice of your customers, then Twitter. If you are mainly B2B then Twitter and Linked In are probably the most relevant tools for your business.
2. Competition: Now that you have worked out which Social Media Platform would be the most suitable, why don’t you have a look and see what your competitors are doing? If you access the Social Media main website (Facebook.com, Twitter.com, LinkdIn.com), do a search for your competitors name and see what they are doing. Have a look for your product or service, what are other businesses like you doing, there will be businesses and individuals talking about things that you do.
3. Understand the tools: The best way to understand how the various platforms work is to sign-up for an account and begin to like / follow other similar businesses to you. All of the platforms work in the same way; people follow each other to receive information, to listen to what they have to say. Businesses are made up of people so listening to what is going on in social-spheres the best way to see how this could be relevant to you. If you think this is something that you can begin to understand and could become involved with, you then need to work out what to say.
4. Engagement: This is the buzzword of the moment and relates to the way that you interact with followers and the way that they interact with you. It’s very apt in terms of social media because of the dynamics involved. Individuals follow individuals because they are interested in them and what they have to say, but equally they can un-follow and disengage. Social enables you to engage with people in the way that they choose to engage with you. So when you have decided that you want to give it a try, you know which tools and how you would like to communicate; now you need to work out what to say…
See our next blog on Social Media and Strategy.
Ascensor recommend Social Media Training as part of our marketing services.