Social Media Checklist Worth Noting

The continued challenge, and some helpful orientation,  for small to medium sized businesses in seizing the powerful marketing benefits derived from effective utilization of social media tools is captured nicely by Heidi Cohen in her recent article Social Media Checklist for Small and Medium Size Businesses.

Cohen lands squarely on the largest challenge for SMBs:

Small and medium-sized businesses tend to be so focused on keeping their businesses going that it can be difficult to brainstorm on ways to leverage the dynamic social media environment.

Yet, it is apparent that the opportunity for high value/low cost marketing with an unusually high ROI lies in the balance of harnessing knowledge and help while simultaneously staying dedicated and unobstructed from doing what SMB operators know best; minding the business.

….it was striking to hear from so many small and medium-sized businesses wrestling with developing a viable social media marketing strategy. Small and medium-sized businesses often have more limited resources, both personnel and budgets, than large companies, so they’re looking to build more cost-effective sales streams. With the goals of raising awareness, expanding market share, and improving customer loyalty, it’s critical to be creative in how your business engages and participates in the social media arena.

Cohen correctly points to deliverables and highlights the right areas to measure including expense/time associated with the program, measuring revenue as a result of the campaign, and engagement in terms of numbers of people and quality of interaction.  A checklist of excellent questions is outlined below, and expanded upon in Cohen’s article:

Does your business tap into people’s passions and/or hobbies?

Can your business show off its work?

Can you give prospects information they find useful?

Can you extend your expertise to a broader audience?

Does your business provide reasons for people to gather?

Can your business disseminate fun or related information via social media?

Are there targeted or niche communities where your prospects and customers naturally congregate?

Do major blogs cover your business’s area of expertise?

Does your offering lend itself to creating a small online community and/or bulletin board?

Once you determine that you are ready to jump into a campaign, Cohen continues to get to the heart of the matter by outlining some thoughts on activities and orientation that accelerate progress and results for the campaign:

Listen before you participate. While social media can help small and medium-sized businesses appear bigger than they are, it’s critical not to promote, promote, promote.

Monitor what’s being said about your business. This includes a variety of social media offerings including blogs, review sites like Yelp and niche communities, and discussion groups.

Integrate social media efforts offline. Provide retail prospects with a similar experience through an old-fashioned bulletin board with photographs or handouts containing how-to information.

Promote social media efforts online and offline.Include your Web site, e-mailings, direct mail, local advertising, in-store postings, flyers, business cards, and correspondence.

Socialize social media marketing. Ask visitors, prospects, and customers to visit your social media installations and share their experiences. Don’t overlook traditional ways to extend your business such as local events like Rotary and local sports teams such as Little League.

Create a content strategy. (For additional insights on content strategy, click here.) Develop an editorial calendar for content creation to ensure that you don’t get stuck thinking of what to write, especially when using Twitter and blogs where customers expect regular servings of information.

Make content search-friendly.Use relevant search keywords and tags and add text to photographs and video to aid findability.

The article is a useful read and its tenets are at the core of the DigitalSherpa programs that we are managing for more than 600 local, regional, and global companies building their social media footprints and driving tangible business results.  We recognize the challenges inherent in running businesses while also trying to get smart about social media and then building the right campaign in a sustainable and quality format.  It’’s not easy, but its worth it.