How do you go about choosing social media for your business? You have a lot to do as a small business owner or solopreneur. Wise allocation of your time is vital to small business owners. Is social media the place to spend that time? It’s an important question to ask yourself. Let’s go over some of the facts you need to know about social media to help you make that decision.
What is Social Media?
The users define social media. Specifically, it is social when users create and share content on a website or application. The focus of social media is often building and maintaining a network. According to the Pew Research Center, only 5% of US adults were on Social Media in 2005, but today, 72% report using the tools. While there are some gaps when you look at the spread of users over age, race, gender, income, education, and even community, very few holes are greater than 10%. I guess it’s pretty safe to say that people like being social online. 70% of users report that they are on social media daily. I’ve always resonated with historian Daniel Cohen’s* description of the internet as “prolific but unmediated, powerful but untamed, open to all but taken seriously by few.” If you are exposing your business, your brand, on social media, it’s an apt description to consider.
How can a business use Social Media?
If you remember my ONE RULE, I think it’s always best to start at the end. Before choosing to spend time developing a social media plan, you should understand your intended outcome. Let’s talk about some of the most common ways businesses use social media.
The first to consider is customer service. Let’s strip this down. Customer service is any support you offer customers before or after purchasing. I like to put customer service into the three broad categories of passive, active, and resolution. The passive category includes things you make available to the customer to review at leisure, while the active type requires business engagement. Resolution is anytime you are fixing an actual or perceived problem. While I would not recommend taking on contentious resolution customer service on social media, both active and passive service is something customers expect. According to Statista, 59% of customers have a more favorable view of brands that answer questions and complaints on social media.
Let’s talk about building community. Social communities built around your brand can improve your user’s connection to your brand. Since a community is interactive on social media, it can foster a trustful relationship. t can also attract more followers to the community. I have been following social media trends and reporting for about a decade. I was gob-smacked to read the Sprout Social 2018 report about what consumers want from brands in a divided society; from 2018 data. One statistic, in particular, struck a chord with me, and that is that 78% of users wanted brands to use social media to help people connect.
A pretty obvious use is increasing brand awareness. Increasing the number of people who know about you has some obvious benefits, and it creates the chance that they may think of you when they or someone they know needs your good or service. According to a Smart Insights article, the leading social media marketing goal for 70% of marketers is increasing brand awareness.
Social media is a fantastic resource for boosting engagement. Customers will be the first thing you think of when engagement comes to mind, which is essential. There are other folks out there to consider. For instance, collaborating with organizations within your expertise can help establish authority. Another vital area to boost engagement would be with the media. Free marketing is always a gift. Reporters need sources, and you can be their expert.
Hey Kandy, what about the money?
Yep, social media can also generate money, and many platforms have monetization built right in. Let’s discuss how you can use social media to drive revenue directly.
The first way is to drive traffic to your revenue-producing site. Your revenue-producing site might be online classes, your storefront, an e-commerce site, etc. When using social media to drive traffic, you will simply be encouraging folks to take the step to leave social media and go to the place to purchase.
Another important, although less direct revenue producer, is to create leads (build your email list). Social media is an incredible resource, but owning your own contact list is the only way for your business to thrive. This aspect of social media is critical. Use your content to move your audience from an observer to a lead.
Last but certainly not least in a business owner’s mind is the increased revenue. As you can see, many other goals lead us toward this goal of increased revenue. The difference with this category is that you are receiving funds directly from or through the social media platform. I believe that defining the goal that way helps you keep a clear picture of the activities to keep from blurring lines. For instance, if you are creating content to increase brand awareness, it doesn’t need to provide pricing details unless it’s a core element of the brand.
So what should you do?
When dipping your toes in the water, it’s best to start with one or two goals in mind. Start by assessing your need in each category. Do you need a better way to provide passive or active customer service? If so, consider making customer service one of your content drivers. Would you like to build a community of like-minded people around your brand? If so, consider using social groups and content that generates discussion. Is it most important to spread the word? If that’s the case, focus on engaging branded content. And so on it goes. Look at each goal and determine where you’re most in need of what social media can offer. Remember, like every business plan or strategy, your engagement or purpose on social media can change over time. You will want to reassess your goals at least once a year and adjust your plan accordingly.
* I am reveling in the irony of linking to Cohen’s Wikipedia page. I selected that link because it feels like the most viable long-term rather than his professorial placements.