McAdam Siemon : Accountants and Business Advisors

The Five-Minute Business Coach - February 2011

In this issue:  Small Business Social Media- The Basics

“What is Fake Book? And what’s Twitter all about - is it for birdwatchers?” - my lovely grandmother, age 84

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs....Social media has taken over as one of the most powerful business marketing tools in the world, and any business (no matter how big or small) that doesn’t have a grasp on the basics, should definitely get in the know.

Social media does two very powerful things for business: it connects audiences with brands, and people with services. In fact, it has the potential to do more for a business than any paid-for advertising campaign.

On the other side of the coin, done poorly or without proper thought, it can be a risky venture. But it’s a risk worth taking, as opting out of the social media world leaves a business exposed to their competitors who - right now - are connecting with customers and promoting their services online. You either get online or get left behind.

As a small business owner, the thought of spending big dollars on an advertising budget probably sounds completely unappealing. One of the great things about the online environment today is the ability to get free exposure on massively popular sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It doesn’t cost you a cent. The trick is to get it right, and all it takes is a bit of time and know how.

If you’re yet to expose your business to social media, sit down and have a think about your master plan.

First:

Decide, realistically, how much time you (or a colleague) can dedicate to developing your social media campaign. This is really important and one of the biggest components people overlook. Slowly building exposure, brand recognition and followers takes slow-and-steady effort over the long run. Simply sitting down one night and creating accounts will get you nowhere. In fact, a poorly managed or abandoned business Facebook account looks awful and sends a negative message to the public. Maybe it's only an hour every week or a couple of hours every month. Whatever it is, decide what time you can afford to spend and dedicate yourself to actually putting that time in each and every week.

Second:

Work out what your specific goal is. What do you want to get out of the time you invest in Twitter, Facebook or other online resources? Make it absolutely specific and not something vague like "get more sales”.

Identify a few definite, easy goals that you can track and monitor. For example, say your business now offers a great new service. Maybe your goal is to increase customer take-up over a certain period of time. Make it small, targeted and manageable. Now spend your time refining your message, keeping it simple - and look for, and connecting with, people on these social media sites that are interested in that product. As you build a base of followers you can interact with, you'll notice they gradually start to explore more of what you offer.

Thirdly

The key to an effective social media presence is to keep it conversational and don’t overload people with information. If you’re thinking about starting up a company Facebook page, it’s about a friendly, bite-size and meaningful conversation with your clients and future customers.  The tone should always be highly professional yet informal. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and work out what they’d like to know, and when.

Spend some time checking out what your competitors are doing online (some call it snooping, I call it research!), and look at what some of the big brands are up to.

A recent social media campaign that impressed me was conducted by Stayz, the very popular online accommodation resource with a lesser-known social media presence. They’ve launched into the Facebook world with a light, breezy “summer memories” campaign, whereby other Facebook users could win a $1000 Stayz voucher simply by posting their favourite summer memory photo on the Stayz page, and “liking” Stayz on Facebook. The best photo wins, and thus the conversation and lively posting began. Cue: hundreds of people interacting with the business in a fun, meaningful way and bucketloads of feel-good exposure (and new customers) for Stayz. A small investment of $1000 (the average cost of a few column inches of advertising in a small magazine) and a few hours to set up the promotion seems like a good investment to me!

And last of all...

This is the hardest part, and you have to do it. If you dedicate 1 hour a week to updating your business’ Facebook page, or sending a couple of “tweets” on Twitter, or connecting with people on LinkedIn (fast becoming one of the biggest recruiting and business marketing tools in the world) - then make sure you keep putting that time in. There’s nothing worse than a social media presence that looks and feels half-hearted.

Read, learn and talk to others about how to become effective in the space. If the whole idea of social media sounds confusing, it really isn’t. It’s much easier than people think and only take a bit of playing-around to get confident.

And most importantly, be consistent and patient - very patient. I’d bet the majority of business people starting out on social media give up just a few weeks before they start to see results. It’s a long-distance run with a good road map, not a breathless sprint into the unknown! Enjoy!

~ Rosie Whittam, Marketing and Communications Consultant (e: rosiewhittam@gmail.com and on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter).

Quote of the Month:

“We no longer search for news. Â It finds us. We will no longer search for products and services. They will find us via social media," - Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics.

If you are considering a review of your business situation, the highly professional and proactive team at McAdam Siemon would welcome the opportunity to discuss the ways we can meet your needs.

February 2011