Social media can have a great impact on the way small businesses interact with their customers. It used to be ok for a business to only have a website, but that isn’t the case anymore. Social media has become so popular and widely used that it only makes sense for businesses of all sizes (especially small) to get involved!
Why You Should Put A Social Media Plan Into Action
Social media can not only be a big helping hand in boosting your online presence, it can also be a big part of your SEO campaign. Search engines such as Google and Bing now take into account a businesses social media presence on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Pinterest. No longer do the search engines only take into account the amount of links you have! Now your website will be more accurately and probably more highly ranked based on your interaction via social media.
Not only will you climb higher up the rankings the more you interact with your consumers this way, you’ll also be able to provide better customer service, via the feedback that you’ll most likely receive. You’ll get all sorts of comments, good and bad. If you get some good feedback, great! Tell people about it, “share” the post. But remember, it’s not all doom and gloom receiving negative comments. The good thing about bad or negative feedback is that you can alter your service accordingly, and maybe even redeem yourself to that particular customer by offering them a free product or service. Individuals are much more likely to share their thoughts and feelings about your business and service via social media than they would be willing to using a feedback form or telephone survey.
Scarily, out of 500 small business owners with less than 49 employees, more than half hadn’t bothered to start up a social media strategy. Just think of all the website traffic and new customers those silly businesses are missing out on!
How To Put Your Social Media Plan Into Action
It’s so important that the person in charge of your online presence (whether that’s yourself or an employee) understands the online environment. It could be very easy to accidentally type something that could upset or offend people. Do a Google search before starting to find out more about appropriate social media etiquette if you aren’t sure.
You obviously already know your target market, so decide which social platforms are best to target them. You can find a variety of tracking tools you can purchase to help you see exactly who is talking about you online or the keywords customers find relevant to your business. Saying that, don’t be fooled into thinking that Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook are the only important social profiles to have. These are the most popular places to start, yes, but having accounts on Youtube, Flickr and other places can all benefit you by increasing your presence and authority.
You could also try to find any competitors on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook to see how active and authoritative they are. This could be a good way to help you get ahead and give you some inspiration for your own profiles!
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