I have a theory. Other than the fact they’re free and easy to use, the real reason Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are so popular is because they give everyone a chance to be a fly on the wall of everyone else’s lives. Even better, we can throw ourselves into the mix—when we want and how we want—and then step out again.
If you let me, I can look at pictures of your family on Facebook, find out what you’re thinking on Twitter, and even check out where you are, thanks to location-based services like Foursquare and Gowalla. Even that professional bastion, LinkedIn, lets me see who you know, what others are saying about you (how many recommendations do you have?) and if you really are who you say you are. Thanks to YouTube, we have the ultimate voyeurism tool.
The advent of social networking and its rapidly increasing popularity has brought new questions in marketing, branding, public relations, advertising and customer service sharply into focus. Millions of people are talking in an online arena about you, your business, your industry and your competitors—whether you like it or not.
Here’s the point: Social media is popular precisely because it’s social and incredibly easy to use—online, on a mobile phone, anywhere, anytime. People can contribute, publish, collaborate and have conversations with each other. We have a voice and we get heard. That’s powerful stuff, and every business can leverage that power to promote its brand, establish expertise, build relationships and generate revenue.
But where do you begin? Whether or not you’ve already embarked on that social media journey, here are the fundamental “Rules of Engagement” you need to meet your goals.
Set goals. What do you want to achieve with social networking? Do you want to increase revenue? Improve customer service? Publish news and information to a large audience? Generate leads? Build your reputation as an expert?
Start by creating smaller, more manageable and measurable goals, gradually increasing size and scope. Allocate resources to plan and track your time, so you know how often and how much effort is being spent on social networking.
Establish a social media policy. Have a clearly stated internal policy that covers your expectations for social media engagement. Include guidelines on: the kind of information that can and cannot be shared; frequency of posts; amount of time spent; separation of personal vs. business use; ethics; confidentiality; required approvals; and disclosure.
Conduct a website audit. How effective is your website today? Does it include a blog? How often are you blogging and what’s the quality of the content? A good blog is an essential component to show visitors you regularly keep your information updated and there’s a human side to your business. Sites with blogs get revisited by users and search engines, because they’re rich in content, keywords and links.
Do you know your website statistics? How do you rank on search engines? Quantify your website by knowing the number of visitors, page views, referring sites, inbound and outbound links and customer conversion rate. Check ease of navigation, user experience and content value. A great resource for analyzing the effectiveness of your website is WebsiteGrader by HubSpot (www.websitegrader.com).
Analyze your social network engagement. What social channels and tools are you using? Do you know which employees are using them? What kind of company information is already online? How much time and resources are committed to your current online efforts?
Claim your brand. Are your logos, images and information consistent across your website, blogs and all social networking channels? Remember to register accounts for all your brand names, including product names, company divisions and trademarks. Even if you don’t use them, register them now before someone else does.
Choose your channels. Not all content is appropriate for all channels. Facebook is much more “social” than LinkedIn. Content that focuses on entertainment like movies, food, travel and personal stories do far better on Facebook, while LinkedIn works well for connecting with peers and professionals, joining groups and establishing your professional identity and reputation.
Some of the most popular sites on Twitter are news sites like CNN and the New York Times, but the people with the most followers are generally entertainers—all those fans want to follow their favorite celebrity’s daily life.
Organize focused campaigns. Campaigns with a specific focus around a topic, project, issue, community, event or service are far more successful because they’re easier to find, digest and measure. For example, the Sears Twitter account, @SearsDeals, focuses exclusively on deals, discounts and coupons.
Contribute content. Deliver content of value and interest. Listen, engage and connect by participating in conversations, commenting on other blogs, asking and responding to questions and building relationships.
Integrate online and offline. Make sure your marketing, advertising, public relations and customer service efforts are integrated across your website, blogs, social networks and email. Offline material, including business cards, brochures, posters, direct mail, print, television and radio advertising should also be integrated with your online efforts. Include your Web address, Twitter handles and online addresses where appropriate.
Measure, monitor and adjust. There are a lot of excellent metrics and monitoring tools available to help you find and gather data on traffic, conversations, trends, demographics, opinions and influencers, and who’s talking about your business, brand, reputation and competition online. Tools include Technorati, TweetStats, Google Analytics, Social Mention, BlogPulse, Google Alerts, Trackur, Scout Labs, Radian6, and Jive Software, just to name a handful.
Recognizing that social media is powerful and evolving is the important first step in engagement. Take the time to understand the tools, commit the resources and adjust your strategy accordingly. Ultimately, it’s about the relationships, communities, connections and people on the other side of that social networking conversation.
Roohi Moolla is CEO and founder of SocialBizNow, a news and resource site on social media for business. She’s also founder of NeighborhoodNow, an online calendar and community portal, and producer of SocialBizWorld, a social media conference to be held October 22-23 in Petaluma. You can reach her at roohi@socialbiznow.com.
