Social Media fore Business

I know we can see surveys, reports and expert blogs everyday talking about social media and its various aspects that affect different types of businesses.  Unless you are a social media user, these expert opinions seem a little extreme.  Extreme because your business Facebook page or Google Plus page, up for a couple months, has not produced mega sales.

The fact is that social media has simply expanded personal networking, a form of word of mouth advertising that has always existed.  Provide a great service or product and people will talk and the same applies for bad services and products.  The average age of online social users continues to escalate, so it is more than high school and college students engaging online.  Business executives, entrepreneurs and investors follow social media as an information source and to reach people with common interests.  Other social follower groups are shoppers, parents, sellers and buyers, all reaching out to see other people's opinions.

From a business marketing perspective, the goal is to reach past, current and future customers and convince them to join your networks and to speak out about your product or service.  How you reach out in the social media world will vary based on your product or services.  This is not new!  How you sell a car is quite different from how you sell a hotel room.  The common factor is public engagement with the buyers.  This not so much "in your face" advertising.  The difference is that it has to be perceived as more of a one-on-one engagement or conversation with your social follower.

The benefits of a successful social media initiative can be huge and very profitable.  But, as with all business success there is a cost element.  You get what you pay for!  Successful social marketing requires four steps:

1/ Strategic Plan:  Identify which social media websites, online or mobile you will start with and which will be added as you progress.  Keep in mind there is a difference in who is social online and who is social on mobile.
2/ Implementation Plan: Set your goals and create a schedule calendar for what and when you will post and advertise.  Monitor follower growth and demographics closely to help target your posts and engagement efforts.
3/ Implementation:  Commit the time, resources and cost to gain the best possible returns.  This requires a Community Manager that knows all aspects of your business, has finite writing skills and know how the social networks work and interconnect with search engine ranking results.
4/ Measurement Reports: Give it time to grow!  Facebook, like Rome, was not built in a day.  It took at least a week.  Review the various reports that are available with each social media channel and monitor for trends then take advantage of the trending. Track traffic to your website and responses to print promotions that were only accessible on your social networks.  A good example is to calculate the Facebook ratio of Talking About to the total number of Likes.  This ratio will give you an idea of how many active Likes and Facebook followers you have compared to one timers.

Social Media is for business and we've only seen the tip of the iceberg or is it network!