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If You’re Going To Do It, Do It Right (Small Businesses’ Most Common Social Media Mistakes)

Posted by admin | Filed under Marketing, Social Media

As is the case in most small businesses, I work with passionate business owners who are absolute subject experts in their field. They’re entrepreneurs who started with a hobby or passion and turned it into a business. Currently, I’m working at a company that builds boats for the sport of competitive rowing. To call it a niche is an understatement, and the owner of the company is the very definition of a world-wide subject expert. But like so many passionate small business owners, he spends his time building a better product, not learning how to market it. Throw an ever-changing “social media tool of the day” landscape, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’d be impossible for him to wear the marketing hat, too. Luckily, he has grown the company enough to fill an office with customer service, sales, and marketing experts so he can focus on what he does best – design better boats.

Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, and “marketing” and “social media” get stuck at the bottom of the job description of someone who knows nothing about them. I can appreciate tight budgets and lean operations, but (particularly) social media is the face of a company. Amateur mistakes with Facebook posts, tweets, blog content, and the like can make any company look rinky-dink. So as the saying goes – if you’re going to do something, do it right.

Here are social media blunders I see small businesses make over and over and how to fix them, fast:

1. Going at it without a strategy.

Every part of your business is done with intent. Why should social media be any different? It’s part of a bigger picture, and you need to fully understand how it fits into that big picture, and what you hope it will achieve. Are you trying to connect with a certain customer segment? Showcase new products? Address customer service concerns quickly and agilely? Posting a few pictures on twitter or Facebook willy-nilly does not a social media strategy make. Think about it. Measure it. Tweak it along the way.

2. Trying to use multiple social media channels, and failing miserably because you’re treating them all the same.

Though there seem to be a hot new social tool monthly, that doesn’t mean you need to jump on the passing bandwagon. Really understand your target market, and then figure out what social tool they are using. Pinterest is 80% women, 55% 25-44 years old, and unless you are in the business of weddings, recipes, or dream homes, might not be a slam dunk. Google+ is 63% men, 58% are 18-34, and skews largely to a very tech-savvy user. (and chocolate lovers??) Some topics have voracious twitter communities, some don’t. Figure out which tools are the most appropriate and do those well. And be agile here. If something’s not working relative to the time investment on your part, change course.

Part two of this is that since these tools are all different, they deserve different interactions. Don’t link your Facebook and twitter pages to automatically update. The truncated post/link is a dead give-away that you’re being lazy. Ultimately your fans will abandon you because you’re not offering value to the conversation.

3. Ignoring (or even worse, silencing) your fans.

The whole point of social media is to engage with your community. Though it takes time and attention, you need to monitor the conversation happening with your accounts. If a fan goes to the trouble to post on your wall, they are initiating a conversation with you.  Ignoring comments is the modern day equivalent to letting the phone ring unanswered. (Real life example: Claire’s looks ridiculous as they ignore irate customers.)

Many brands shy away from social media all together because of the fear of negative comments. You’re probably going to get one or two over time, but look at them as a chance to highlight how attentive your customer service is instead of deleting them and hoping that no one noticed.

4. Poorly formatted Facebook posts.

Pictures that aren’t oriented correctly, generic link text, long posts that you have to click on “see more” to expand – the little things that reveal that you’re winging it. In no particular order:

Inappropriately long or boring status updates. Remember your environment – your status updates are showing up in someone’s news feed. They are meant to be digested quickly, at a glance. Keep ‘em short. As a general rule, you probably don’t ever want a “See More” on your status update. And keep ‘em exciting. This may be the only thing a fan hears about you, make it count.

Photos that are sideways or inappropriately cropped. We’ve all done it – seen a picture that’s upside down and had to tilt our head to actually look at it. That’s fine if it’s on your untech-savvy Mom’s Facebook page, not okay on a brand page. So make sure your photos look good. When viewing a photo, click on the “options” button along the bottom of the photo. From here, you can rotate it and add a date and location stamp. On your timeline post, you can reposition the photo on your wall (so Facebook doesn’t crop the preview incorrectly). Hover over the top right corner of the post, and click on the pencil. Choose “Reposition Photo” and drag it to the appropriate position.

Links listed AND previewed. That URL jibberish is seriously wasted real estate on your page. When you type a link into the “write a comment” box, it automatically pops up a preview of the link below. Now you can delete the link text that you entered, and just write your post.

Ineffectively formatted link previews. You can actually change the preview link title, page text, and thumbnail. The image is automatically pulled in from the web page you are linking to, but often times you have a few options – this one has 2 thumbnails to choose from – click the left and right arrows to preview them, OR click  “No Thumbnail” if none of them work for you. While it’s always a little funny when a competitor’s logo/ad ends up on a link preview, it’s not good.

You can also type whatever you want in the link title and text. (Hover over the text to turn it yellow, then click to edit.) Maybe you want to shorten it, or tweak it a bit so it’s more concise. Same goes for the block of copy below the link – remember, short and sweet. Theoretically, you want your fans to click on this link, so make it look and sound interesting!!

5. Not taking advantage of the timeline cover photo.

Mashable just released a study showing how closely fans pay attention to cover photos (the really big one). It’s the boldest chance you have to make an impact. Leaving it blank is a wasted opportunity to give your brand a very visual identity.

6. Sporadic and inconsistent interaction.

If you’re “doing” social media right, you’re building relationships and cultivating a personality for your brand. Nothing confuses (at best) or annoys (at worst) a fan like a deluge of posts or tweets followed by long periods of radio silence. You need to develop a rhythm to your communication. Not only will the consistency show that you’re on the ball, but it also helps form your brand’s personality. Is inconsistent a trait you want associated with your brand? Additionally, if you spread out your interactions, you can start to get an idea of when your audience is most receptive by comparing time of post to fan engagement. (reference your page insights.) Caveat here – this rhythm will be different for every business. Find a balance between your campaign goals, the content you have to talk about, and the rest of your to-do list.

7. Dismissing Google+.

There are plenty of people who will tell you that Google+ will never make it as a social network. That may be true – it will be practically impossible to unseat Facebook. My gut tells me a few things about Google+ though:

1. It’s not the new Facebook (though from the outside it might look like it). Google+ is just another part of the search empire that is Google. And considering how paramount search is to any business today, I’m hesitant to take any chances.
2. Yes, Google+ is still largely esoteric, however it has some serious traction among a few specific demographic and topic-centric niches.
3. The nature of social media communities is that they grow exponentially. (Read: get started early.) Plus, I’d rather take my time getting to know the tool while it’s still young and developing than trying desperately to play catch up.
4. Google’s invested an awful lot in this platform to let it fail. It’s not another Wave or Buzz. Did I mention that it scares the bejeezus out of me that Google+ could become a huge component in Google’s organic search algorithm and wreck my SERPs if I’m not on the ball?

Not ready to tackle another social media tool? That’s okay. But do keep an eye on it.

Got all of those covered? Look into some of the third party tools that make social media management more, well, manageable. Here are a few of my (FREE!) favorites:

1. Hootsuite and Tweetdeck are social media “dashboards” that let you keep track of comments coming in, and schedule posts going out. These tools are great first steps at building your own social media management plan and deciding on (and sticking to) the amount of time you’re going to devote to social. There’s no need to stare at your Facebook and twitter pages all day long. Schedule out your posts, and forget about it (for a little while at least). By the way, they have great mobile apps that let you keep an eye on your accounts on the go.
2. Hyper Alerts keep track of your (and your competitor’s) Facebook activity via daily, weekly, and monthly email reports. Spend two minutes to set them up, and glance at them from your inbox.
3. Shortstack and Wildfire are custom Facebook page builders with WYSIWYG interfaces that make building apps a snap. Start with their freemium account, and bump up to a paid plan if you want to run (legal) contests.  While fangating to your main Facebook page is no longer an option, running a contest is a great way to require people to like your page.

Read more | Comments (0) | May 3rd, 2012

The Check-In: Why Customers Love Them, and Why More Businesses Should, Too.

Posted by admin | Filed under Marketing, Social Media

Location Check-in apps like Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp, and Facebook Places are wildly popular with the mobile and social media savvy crowd. Some businesses offer coupons and discounts for check-ins, and there are plenty of users who are in it just for the deals. But most check-ins simply extend a means to garner public bragging rights. So what’s the real reason your customers are inclined to pull out their cell phone and check-in to your location?

The marketer in me says that it all goes back to the age-old adage: All things product-related being equal, people do business with people (re: BRANDS) they like. In an increasingly corporate, noisy, and big-box-store world, social media – and particularly check-ins – present a way to make a personal connection. Consumers are looking for a genuine attachment to the businesses they frequent. It’s nice to think your money is going to someone you like. It’s a way your customers can say, “Hey, I’m here, and I’m glad to be at your place of business.” The fact that as a business you’re active in the check-in game tells your customers that you want to make that connection, too.

Not only are check-ins a way for consumers to connect with your business directly, check-ins are social. Whether it’s unlocking a badge, checking in somewhere hip, or leaving comments about a personal experience, customers are checking-in to connect with their friends. What’s more personal than a conversation among friends? And worth noting – it happens to be a conversation that will be documented on the internet for years and years to come. A conversation that includes your business like it was sitting right there on the couch among friends. While it may be social for your customers, check-ins present a huge branding opportunity with the potential to spread the word about your business organically and exponentially.

Lastly, check-ins are appealing to early adopters, trendsetters, and personal- branders. They represent a virtual resume of what they’ve done and where they’ve been. As a business owner, you’ve just hit the jackpot. Not only are these highly valuable customers frequenting your business, but they’re also telling you exactly who they are and what they thought. They want to build a relationship with you, and these applications pave the way for you.

If you’ve dipped your toe in the check-in game, you’re off to a great start. Like any marketing endeavor, it’s well worth spending some time to strategize how this tool can be best used to achieve your branding and bottom-line goals. If you haven’t, start monitoring the applications to see if your customers are using them. Spend some time defining what you hope to get out of the opportunity. These applications are designed to be turn-key for businesses, so implementation is quick and easy.

This post originally appeared on Valuevine’s blog where I periodically write about social media trends. Check them out at www.valuevine.com.