Marketing Automation, Web Video and Social Media
7 Social Media Tips to Build Brands
The U.S. Small Business Administration is giving social media workshops at UCONN campuses this March and April.
52% of people in the U.S. work at businesses with 20 people or less. Small businesses have led the country out of every recession. Many believe, including comScore, social media will be a big asset this time around.
Since I’m one of them, I’m grateful to contribute along with Rob Petersen of BarnRaisers, http://barnraisersllc.com and other small business owners (featured below) that have used social media successfully. Here are 7 social media tips to build brands.
- Strategy trumps technology: A business strategy and social media strategy are the same thing. Have one before you use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, apps etc. Then, ask yourself: Why do these fit with my strategy and how do use them to engage, increase trust in customer relationships and re-engage?
- Set measurements and expectations first: Never believe you can’t measure social media. You can know more about buying behaviors on the internet (e.g. where customers come from, how long they spend with you, what they do and where they go) than you can in your store. Plus Google Analytics and bit.ly links are free. If you’re not convinced, David Berkowitz has a great presentation on 100 measurements at: http://bit.ly/pmadb
- Social media takes time: Small business owners, understandably, have lots of priorities. Manage what you can handle. Customers come first. Social media is going to be around for a while. Of course, this point applies to all businesses.
- Live with the ups and downs: What you want is a following and fans. It doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn’t happen the way you thought it would, but, if you stick with it, it does happen. Enjoy the journey.
- Not all social networks are equal: In every case I’ve seen, not all social network rise to the top because of the unique nature of every business. For AJ Bombers, a burger joint, it was Twitter acting as a virtual maitre’d and a video from Chris Brogen. For a utilitarian product like Blendtec blenders, it was unconventional product demos from Founder/CEO, Jim Dickson. You can learn from their experiences below and expect it will happen for you.
- Have your online house in order: If you follow tips 1-5, you’re likely to experience traffic. It will come to your web site, the most important asset in any social media program. There’s an old saying: Nothing kills a bad product faster than good advertising. Today, nothing kills a good social media program faster than a bad web site.
- Believe in your product: The owner of AJ Bombers, Jo Sorge, who nows a book, #Twitterworks, spoke in a video call from Milwaukee. What was most important to his success? “If I didn’t believe AJ Bombers made the best cheeseburger on the planet, social media wouldn’t have accomplished a thing.”
If you’re in the area, the next workshop is April 27th at UCONN in Stamford from 6pm to 9 pm. Details will be at: http://bit.ly/bW22Ml
Posted: 3/25/2010 10:28:26 AM by
Mike Rogers | with 11 comments
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