What Are The Social Media Best Practices For Small Businesses?

[AngelBiz]

For many small business owners getting on the bandwagon of social media is a novel and scary experience. They recognize that they cannot avoid it because that’s where their current and potential customers are. But at the same time they are scared due to lack of knowledge and experience. Below we show how you can get the most out of social media by following the best practices.

Monitor your reputation. Social media is a Wild West of online world. Customers are free to say what they think about your business – some may be true, some not. Regardless whether it is true or not, the customer comments on social media do influence the behavior of other customers and your future business. That’s why it is important to keep a watchful eye on what is being said on Facebook , Twitter , Yelp and other social media sites.

Read more - http://www.smallbizviewpoints.com/20...siness-owners/

[Linda22]

What any new business we help promoting, one of the first things we ask is if they have any social media pages. If they haven't, a social media strategy will be layed out immediately.

Basically it comes down to this:

-Create Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn accounts
-On their original website, with each blog posts they write or at the footer of each pages, we add the social media icons (the facebook "f" etc. with a "follow us" link next to it).

If they website have good traffic, you will see the social media going quickly through the roof. It's all about putting it out there that these pages do in fact exist.

One last tip, do some special promotion, for example new subscribers can win an iphone. People will share this over facebook, and you will start to gain more and more traffic.

[ZenReputation]

Do on-line community management, that will also grow Internet e-reputation of the website !!

[blunderbuss]

I'd really like to see to see some hard numbers and examples of real businesses profiting from social media. I'd also like to see which businesses benefit, as I'm sure it doesn't make sense for all businesses. Perhaps it's the luddite in me, but I'd like to see more real-world proof and less "buzz"

[AngelBiz]

Originally Posted by blunderbuss

I'd really like to see to see some hard numbers and examples of real businesses profiting from social media. I'd also like to see which businesses benefit, as I'm sure it doesn't make sense for all businesses. Perhaps it's the luddite in me, but I'd like to see more real-world proof and less "buzz"

I do agree that there is a lot of buzz to the social media phenomenon and some more fluffy than others. However, just like any marketing this one is hard to pin down. Can you show the return on television advertising. How many people buy product as a result of that.

I think social media is good for raising brand awareness that will result in higher sales in the long-term rather than generate actual sales. Ford is a good example of the company that has done well with social media. Their success with the younger buyers in the last 3-4 years can partly be attributed to their social media campaign. Of course, having the right product helped them too.

[IsaacB]

Originally Posted by blunderbuss

I'd really like to see to see some hard numbers and examples of real businesses profiting from social media. I'd also like to see which businesses benefit, as I'm sure it doesn't make sense for all businesses. Perhaps it's the luddite in me, but I'd like to see more real-world proof and less "buzz"

this is a great point, but in your mind who are u more likely to trust: a company with no online social presence, or a company that at least has its toes soaking in the social pool?

As to how much Social marketing a company needs I believe that 100% relates to the products they sell. The more social the product, the more valuable social marketing would be.

[morganbarnhart]

AngelBiz said it best - social media is there to raise brand awareness.

It's also there to be able to directly connect with your customer/fan/client/whatever.

If a sale comes out of the engagement - great! But social media's purpose is not to directly sell to people.

I have a client who sells car decals. Instead of directly saying, "BUY THESE DECALS", they show customer photos and personal photos of how decals can be used and showcases on a car. Because of that tactic, they get a lot of sales. But they didn't directly ask for the sale, they were showing the value and fun nature of what they sell, which enticed their audience.

Should you raise awareness about what you sell? Absolutely! But a lot of people can be turned off by being directly sold to over social media.

[alocsin]

Does anyone know the advantages/disadvantages of having a regular Facebook page vs a Fan Page or some other page for your business?

[morganbarnhart]

Facebook frowns on personal pages being used for business, many personal pages being used for business purposes are shut down and they seem to be cracking down on it harder these days.

The advantages and disadvantages have already been pretty clearly listed, but overall, it's really up to the individual/business.

Now, with timeline being on brand pages and personal pages, there really doesn't seem to be a whole lot of advantage with the brand page, except for the fact that brand pages can allow an infinite number of people to like your page and you're still restricted to 5,000 friends on your personal page.

Just depends on your needs. But to me, when a business is using a personal page, it kind of tells me, "We're too important and must wait to accept you as a friend first before we can communicate". Instead of allowing anyone and everyone to join in on the conversation.

[rachelmorgan]

Hi,

Working on Facebook. Twitter, Friendfeed, G+, Stumble Upon and more is always good but I think we need to work on local and specific networking or communities sites.

Thanks