The Social Media Marketer

Social Media 101: Getting Back To Basics

You have a small business and you're ready to take the plunge into the wading pool of social media marketing.  It's an opportune time to do so.  According to a study conducted by EMarketers, 80 percent of leading companies will use some form of social media marketing this year.  That percentage has tripled in the last three years.

But, even if you're getting a late start, social media marketing is easy if you understand the basics.  As long as you grasp the social media basics, you'll become more proficient as you work the process and include it as part of your marketing routine. 

Here are four steps to successful social media basics:

1)    Become familiar with the major vehicles for social media.  According to a 2011 report by SocialMediaExaminer.com, the most commonly used social media tools are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs, in that order.  Facebook is the mega social media networking site, with a growing population of 800 million, where people connect with friends, family, business associates, and the public at large.

Twitter is known for short communications (maximum of 140 characters) to a network of followers about current events or personal activities.  LinkedIn, which boasts 120+ million members, is used primarily for communication between professionals and is not designed for business-to-consumer marketing.  Blogs are online vehicles for disseminating information on a regular basis.  Blogs allow for more lengthy communications than do the other vehicles.

2)  Develop a marketing communications strategy.  Social media can be utilized for all sorts of communication that can attract potential customers.  You can use it to advertise special sales and promotions; to tout recent benchmarks or company successes; to announce new staff additions; to inform the public about news publicity you've recently received; to highlight a satisfied customer.  Write down a plan for the first 60 days regarding your social media posts so you'll know which direction to take.

3)  Invite people to network with you.  Send out an announcement to your customers, friends, family, business associates -- in other words, all of the folks within your personal network -- and invite them to join, like, follow or track you on these social networks.  This will help you obtain a substantial number of fans early on.

4)  Post information on a consistent basis.  Communicate on one or all of these vehicles on a consistent basis.  Consistent posting helps you increase your fan base and will also prompt others to recommend you to their own friends and sphere of influence.

Social media basics represent an inexpensive way to advertise your business.  "The advertisements you see on other sites cost money," says Amy Gardner, social media strategy expert, "but getting a Facebook or Twitter account and creating a page for your business is free."  Take advantage of this novel way to reach potential and existing customers and have fun at the same time.