Mike’s Points

More and more, small business owners are buying into social media, according to a May 20 report on eMarketer (see table).

“[A]lmost two in five small-business owners reported they would be growing their businesses with social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. That was up from less than one-quarter who planned to up their game with social in 2009 and made social media the only tactic to increase in importance since last year.”

While it’s good that social media marketing is becoming more mainstream, let me offer a bit of advice for small businesses (and any other business for that matter): Don’t neglect your Website. It’s your core online presence.

But I digress. While I liked the report, what it didn’t go into is WHY?

Sorry, “growing your business” is a bit vague and not a good answer. If I had to guess, I’d say that growing your business means you want to sell more. Is that really it? Ultimately it is — but there’s a lot that goes into “growing your business” and social media isn’t always the best for driving sales.

For any size business, your overriding business objectives must drive everything else — including social media marketing.

Set objectives — for the long term and short term. These objectives need to be measureable. If not hard-core numbers, at least know and describe in the plan what “success” will look like.

Set strategies designed to accomplish above said objectives.

THEN set and implement tactics  — like “get a Facebook Page” — that will accomplish the strategies.

Once you successfully plan and lay out the above, add in regular reporting activity — so you can determine if the tactics are meeting the strategies, and if the strategies are meeting the objectives’ measureables.

If any so-called social media expert or any marketing communications expert tells you that you should blog, get on Twitter, do an ad, or any other tactic — ask him/her why. If that person cannot give you a good reason — one that is tied to your business — send that person away.*

-Mike

*And contact me.

I’m no noted authority on Twitter and no highly-acclaimed expert. What I have been doing is tweeting pretty regularly for 1156 days according to HowLongOnTwitter.com. I’ve tweeted for me and Diamond Communications, as well as for one to five other accounts off and on during the past three-plus years.

And, I’ve learned a few things and nuances about tweeting that I hope will be beneficial to you as well. The below definitely is not meant to  be all inclusive — so please share your own Twitter tips in the comments.

Share
RT, a/k/a a retweet: Whether you use Twitter on the Web, a desktop application like Tweetdeck or mobile app, there are easy, click-of-button ways to simply repeat what others have tweeted while giving them credit.

Via (or similar short term of giving credit): If RT’ing a person means you exceed the 140 character limit, simply post a link and give the person from whom you found it credit.

RT/Via with your opinion (see image right): Offer your brief take on the subject covered in the link or the text tweeted, along with giving your source credit. Sharing information is good; adding value to that information is better.

RT/Via with a snippet: Similar to offering your opinion, but instead you offer a key phrase from the link. It could be the headline, verbiage in the content or even a comment from someone in the link you think is valuable.

Engage

Link with question: If you’re sharing a link, engage your followers and see if they have an opinion on the topic you are linking to. It’ll help encourage people to follow the link to share their opinion and expertise.

Ask: Seek input and the opinions of followers on industry trends and issues, ask how your product and service can be improved, ask how or when followers use your products and services, etc.

Open up: Tweet behind-the-scenes of what’s happening at work, during a trade show, or any situation that is not regularly communicated via traditional marketing means. Twitter add-ons like Twitpic, Yfrog, Twitvid and other image and video services are helpful to show — not just tell — behind-the-scenes scoop.

Be relatable: It IS okay to tweet about yourself. When you do this, try to tweet something that’s also of interest to others and that followers may be able to relate to. The weather is one example, particularly for followers in your geographic area. A silly or unusual situation you are in or that you see, is another example.

CC (image right*): It’s not only for email. If you tweet a link or anything you think a particular fellow tweeter might find of interest, cc that account. This is particularly helpful if that other account does not follow you or if you simply want to get his/her/their attention.

Be Findable

Follow more: One passive but easy to get more followers is to — simply follow more people. Many people will automatically follow you back. Others will follow if they like your profile — so be sure to include bio AND photo — while others will follow back if you @ them or are engaging (see above).

Categorize your tweets: In other words, use hashtags. When you tweet about certain topics, use common hashtags that others might associate with that topic.

#FollowFriday: Give a shout-out to those you follow by promoting them and encouraging others to follow them. To do so, use #followFriday and/or #ff hashtags, the followers’ Twitter names (with @ ). Some people just give a followFriday and followers’ names. However, it’s more engaging to include a few words as to why you like them, what value you find, etc. Granted, this is also engagement but if you followFriday others, you’ll likely be followFriday’d back and gain more followers. It’s not the only reason to participate but it is a good one.

So, there you have it. Rocket science, eh?

-Mike

*The tweet in the example is by me as I am working with the Toledo Free Press as its social networking manager.