Often I talk about the need for businesses to get into social media so that they don’t get passed by because their competitors have gotten into the business. Whereas that’s true, what can’t be missed is that there must be a real world component to social media marketing.
For instance, say you make contact with someone because of your blog. Most probably they’re going to reach you by email or phone if you’ve remembered to add a contact page to your blog, or at least have a link to your business website, which should have contact information on it. This means that you’re following up with people in a more personal manner, whether it’s email or phone or, if you’re lucky, meeting someone in person.
I point this out because if your website or blog is so good that it actually does attract business, what you can’t take a chance on is that people are letdown by what they see once they’ve reached out to you. I don’t hide from anyone that I’m a one man operation, but some companies represent themselves as large corporations and suddenly find that they don’t have either the skills or resources to handle certain types of work that might come their way.
Another thing I’ve recommended businesses should do is follow both their business name and their industry on Twitter using hashtags. Many businesses have done this and have used the customer service potential to their benefit. However, what I’ve also seen is some companies using the opportunity to go on the attack rather than help their customers out, or reach out to a customer, answer the first query, then not follow up with any visible action.
Social media isn’t a game where business is concerned. Irk just one person, the wrong person, and you can believe that thousands will know about it soon enough. And when that happens, it’ll be hard for any business to follow up with all those other people to apologize, if it’s warranted, because they won’t know who they all are.
You can’t avoid social media because whether you like it or not, you’ll be pulled into it if you don’t act. It’s better if you make the decision to do it on your own. But be proactive across the board. Get it as right as you can. Your business will prosper and you’ll thank me later. 😉
Thanks for writing this article. Its so important to take the marketing of your business seriously and also to take social media seriously. I didn’t think to follow hashtags in my industry, but I am now considering that strategy. I also think its great to link as many of your social media accounts as possible. I was initially leery of google+, but now I love the interaction of it. So, if I were to give some marketing/ social media advice, I would say, “Give a chance to some new marketing strategies. See what happens.”
Great comment Yasmin! Yes, both mediums are pretty important and I’ve seen so many people fail in one or the other, but mainly on social media. However, a well crafted networking strategy if you’re a local business can overcome a lot of that.
Oh please Mitch, don’t let it pull me in! I don’t think I can handle the stress! 😉
Actually I find dealing with social medial a lot easier than socialising in person. Even so I don’t seem to be able to use it to my advantage. I do agree though that it should be part of your marketing. As long as you don’t have a wife that objects to the stuff you share on there that is lol
LOL! Your wife is the smart one on that but we won’t go there right now. Truthfully, I’ve just started using it more often for my business advantage and it might be working; kind of hard to tell sometimes. I’m getting a lot more attention on Twitter and LinkedIn, more people wanting to connect and such, and that’s not so bad. Still, waiting for at least one “paying” contact, if you know what I mean.
Yeah, I know what you mean alright. I get some traffic from FaceBook but I get more from Pinterest, but then that’s not really social media is it?
That’s an interesting question. We debated this years ago when we were doing the Hot Blog Tips videos. I said no; can’t really remember what the other two said. Can people have conversations there?
Actually, you can leave comments but they don’t seem to continue the conversation like they do on our blogs. Now, that’s my kind of Social Media 😀
Absolutely agree!
I just think Twitter is more dangerous or risky when compared to other social media. An Organisation will have to take lot of criticism if something goes wrong. That will in turn effect their reputation.
I think Twitter can be dangerous because people throw out stupid statements without thinking about it. However, I think people who do videos are probably in as much danger because all it takes is a soundbite and that’s that, and it’s harder to get rid of.
I really like the part of your post that mentions having a “real world” component to your marketing…
So many people forget nowadays that there’s an actual person attached to the other end of a computer…nice post!
Thanks; I get lucky sometimes.
Hi Mitch. Great post, and a good reminder to utilize social media, but look beyond it as well. You mentioned following both your business name and your industry hashtags on Twitter – a great tip I hadn’t thought of! I have just set this up for my Twitter account. Another helpful strategy is to setup a Google alert for your website and brand name. Then anytime another blog or website mentions your business, you’ll get an email from Google with a direct link to that post. Then you can ensure what they’re saying about your business is accurate, and it opens up networking opportunities that may have otherwise been overlooked.
Thanks Ron. I have actually been using Google Alerts for many years, but it’s started tapering off drastically; I might receive an alert once every couple of weeks now. I think they stopped caring about it unfortunately. Luckily, many of the social media sites tell you when someone shares your stuff in some way. Still, we both know it’s about more than social media, especially if our clients aren’t really a part of it.