Oklahoma Small Business Resource Guide - SBA

CAPITAL
TIPS FOR INTERACTING WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS
SOCIAL MEDIA
AN ESSENTIAL PART OF YOUR
MARKETING TOOLKIT
Social media marketing is a great tool
for engaging with customers, building
your company’s brand, and increasing
your business reach. However, many
small business owners make the
mistake of using social media tools
such as Twitter and Facebook for
simply pushing their messages out.
They miss a key communications and
marketing opportunity by not listening
to or joining in the conversations that
are going on. In other words, they
ignore the fundamental point of social
media - being SOCIAL!
Just being on Twitter or Facebook is
not enough. It takes time and effort to
build a strong social media presence.
When it comes to growing your social
media presence and seeing a return on
your investment it is easier said than
done.
Here are three hands-on tactics
that you can use.
1. Determine Where Your
Customers are Online and
How you Can Reach Them
a. When considering social media as
part of your overall
marketing strategy, always start with
asking the most basic questions:
• What is it you want to achieve?
• Where is your audience and will they
respond?
26 — Small Business Resource OKLAHOMA
b. Next, make sure your target audience
is on Twitter, Facebook or whatever
social network you are considering,
or you may spend a lot of time on a
channel that won’t reach your target.
You can do this in several ways:
• Survey your customers.
• Assess what your competition is
doing.
• Get involved with social networks
on a personal level by exploring
communities and Facebook fan
pages.
• Research trends in Twitter topics
and try to build a picture of what
your target market is doing and
sharing on social networks.
c. And don’t forget that while these tools
are free, your investment in them isn’t.
It takes staff time and resources to use
social media successfully.
2. Use Twitter to Engage and
Entice
a. Instead of simply Tweeting for
Tweeting’s sake, focus on
making your Twitter strategy
a rich and interactive
experience. For example, use
Tweets to start discussions
on your products, special offers
and events. Engage with
followers by responding to
mentions about your business;
addressing their questions and
inviting them to check out your
website and so on.
b. You can track mentions of
your company or products
in other Tweets using a
Twitter application such as
Tweetdeck or Hootsuite.
c. Don’t be afraid to Tweet often.
Anywhere between 5-10 Tweets
a day is your target. Also
remember to shake your
message up. As every good
marketer knows, tone and style
are a huge factor in ensuring
that your message stands
out, resonates, and promotes
action. Tweeting is like
conversation, putting out static
updates or statements will fall
on flat ears, but engaging,
teasing, querying, and showing
interest will promote action. So
shake your message up, use the
words your audience uses,
sprinkle in some hashtags and
go on and tease a little.
So, instead of saying:
• We’re giving away 2 bagels
for the price of one at
BagelFest on Nov 25, 4-8
PM
Tweet this:
• We know you love them! Get
2 bagels for the price of one
on 11/25. Find out where
3. Use Facebook to its Fullest
Effect
As with Twitter, Facebook is a great
way for engaging with people who
like your brand, want to interact
with your business, stay abreast of
latest developments, and take advantage
of giveaways, contests, surveys, etc.
It is also invaluable for brand exposure.
While having a Facebook presence
doesn’t guarantee a huge uptick
in visitors to your website, using it
strategically to link back to online blogs,
menus, event or newsletter registration
landing pages and special offers, can
improve site traffic.
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