I met with a prospect recently who had a business that depends on referrals. They aren't his whole business, but without referrals he would have a very different business on his hands. Social could be an ideal channel for him. He told me he "tried social media". But of course it didn't work. Well, of course not with THAT attitude!What's wrong with his attitude, you ask? He wasn't clear on his goals, didn't have a plan and wasn't sure what he could get back from the effort so he didn't put a lot of effort into it. "I'll try it" can be a logical approach because it's smart to keep your eyes open. As Yoda says, "there is no 'try', only do or do not."
To "try" means...
you should set some parameters for knowing objectively if it failed or succeeded. Sometimes we work hard at something we shouldn't, and sometimes we don't work hard enough at something we should have. Insert the Scientific Method here for greatness as you try on new outlets for building your brand digitally.
- Be objective about what you want to get, and set a specific period of time. For example, you might set a goal to have 50 new Likes on your Facebook page in the next 30 days.Make the early goals achievable and trackable within the channels you're using. At the beginning, you shouldn't evaluate your success by how many new products you sold through Facebook. That will come in time, just evaluate how much effort is involved in moving the needle even a little.
- Write down a plan for those 30 days (or six months). Which channels will you use? What will you say in your posts? When will you say them? What photos or videos or resources will you use? What assets like current followers or other contributors, do you already have? Here is a sample social media communications plan I wrote for a networking group in 2011.
- Plan to be helpful with your posts. Posting self-serving messages puts everyone off. "Come on down to my store." is helpful to you, but not good marketing. What's in it for the reader? What value are they getting from your message that would encourage them to "Like" you. Instead ask questions about how your service feels about a new service or share a coupon or a helpful tip about your restaurant's menu or store hours.
- Have a clear path visitors can follow. If you are looking for your readers to do something like book a reservation or come to your new website and buy lots of things, is it easy for them to do so? Facebook has lots of nice tools for creating forms and contests, or you can link the reader to your site or ask them to write a review on TripAdvisor. But make sure the links are to your listing on TripAdvisor, not the general home page, for example.
- Be ready to respond. Sometimes businesses will find themselves coming late to the social party and their audience is already talking about them on Twitter or Yelp. If you aren't listening to them and responding, acknowledging them, you can't be part of the conversation and they don't have any reason to feel you care about their business.
Social Media Examiner goes into more detail in their article: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-plan-for-your-business/.