Social media has been around since the early days of the internet. People used to connect with friends on message boards and meet new ones in chat rooms. The fact that businesses are getting into the act is a sure sign of these desperate economic times. A business in the past had to spend tons of $ in advertising to gain new clients/customers. Businesses can now do that for $0. Better yet, you can do that in an area where the clients/customers already are. You can take the message, (and in most cases a highly targeted message) directly to your potential clients/customers. The fact is that social media markets are where people are spending the most time. They get on the networks on their smart-phones, iPads, net-books, work computers - you can access it literally anywhere. Below are things you need to keep in mind if you are going to use social media to get the word out about your business.

When you are blasting your followers with your marketing message you have to remember that this is where they are spending time, and in this “every minute counts” world we live in, you also have to know that they are only going to take so much getting sold to before the ignore feature of their network gets involved. Having 100 followers that are all hiding your updates is about like talking to yourself, or worse, you are wasting time you could be using to better your business, therefore you are actually hurting your business more than helping. So craft your messages to be status updates that will actually mean something to your followers, not that you have shirts on sale for a limited time only. Let them know its almost St. Paddy’s day and they need to get some green on or else they will get pinched.

Have you ever gone to a website and seen something that looked like it was made in 1991? Then you started to go though it and found that it had lots of good fresh information? What about the opposite? Have you been to a website that looked like it had new fresh content only to find that it was not kept up, possibly having a last updated stamp of death at the bottom for 2001 or something? This is what you do not want to happen to your social marketing efforts or your website. You cannot afford to have potential clients see a half finished project. Some people may see this (subconsciously) as a sign that you will not follow through on your promises.  I had someone tell me one time that it was OK because then the clients would think “they are too busy to update so they must be good.” Who wants to go to that guy? If you do not have time there are companies that will update your networks on a regular basis, these companies (like ARC Design Agency) typically charge anywhere from $50-$500 a month to update and usually write your updates for you.

Do not forget that social media can still be an arm of your business. If all other forms of advertising that you do market your business a specific way, then carry this vibe over through your social updates. It would be odd for most domain registrars to do updates with links to racy videos. However you can expect this from other websites like godaddy.com. Do not try to be something your not just because you feel like that is who the social media crowd wants. Stick to your message to keep your brand going.

Keep the conversation going
If someone has an @ reply or writes on your wall, try to respond. If you are unable to respond to everyone, it is OK, do not feel like you are dissing them. Some people will feel like you have deliberately ignored them, but most understand that they are not going to get a reply. It is almost expected in the social marketing community, especially if you have a large amount of followers.

Most companies look like large companies when they are doing updates. They post press releases and information about the company and never show anyone at the company. Link to pictures from company outings, customers, old photos from when the business was two people in a 300 sq. ft. office, things like that. This shows your followers and fans that you are a person too. Creating that connection will allow people to fall more in love with your company.

Boost your clients
If you find out a customer just won an award, or you went to a nice sushi place for lunch that is close to the office, tweet about it. They will comment back if they are online or possible followers of that organization will pick up on yours. Write directly on their wall, and tell them thanks. This opens your profile stream up to their stream of followers. Now you are not only broadcasting to your friends but to others as well. Increasing the # of people viewing you on social networks is always a good thing.

Yelp.com has a huge following of business owners who boost signs at their restaurants and bars saying things like “We are big on Yelp.” This lets people who are on smartphones eating in the restaurant log on and follow right then. They may never know the “cool” social media side of the business and now you can open that person up to all the good your business does, all the day to day stuff that will make that one time customer a customer for life. So put your social info on your cards, website, maybe a sign at your business or on your phone system.

That is it. If you follow these guidelines I can guarantee you will see a difference, especially if you are not currently using social media to market your business