Top tips: 5 do’s and don’ts for businesses looking to do social media

Do:

1. Consider the impact of embarking on a Social Media strategy for all functions of your business, not simply marketing and PR. Other functions include, but are not limited to; customer service, brand building, CSR campaigns and research.
2. Provide value to the online communities your business engages with; share your latest insights and advice with them and direct them to other sources that will be beneficial to them. Building these relationships will encourage brand loyalty and trust within your target audience and with your major influencers. This will last well beyond the end of each individual campaign.
3. Create a flexible content calendar for your social platforms. This allows you to pre-write content and push it out according to a pre-determined schedule. It is great to react to trends and be topical but having a calendar means you will be able to keep your output fresh and frequent, plus you won’t get caught scraping the barrel for something to post.
4. Stick to the positioning, brand guidelines and key messaging you have in place for your business – Social Media is not an excuse to be any less professional than in any other interaction with customers and prospects.
5. Measure the success of your Social Media outreach in terms of how customers interact with you both in the social sphere and in the more traditional channels, eg. on your site/when they call your customer services team. Social media is about interaction and engagement. Use the feedback you receive to tailor your social media strategy as appropriate.

Don’t:

1. Bombard social media channels with sales messages. If you have a Twitter account which automatically posts discount codes and offers, for example, make sure it is marked as such so followers don’t get a nasty surprise.
2. Forget to acknowledge support  – Identify the key influencers and your online advocates. Ensure they get advance notice of new content and special offers.
3. Ignore direct messages and responses. Social Media is about engaging in conversation, not about having one-way conversations by simply pushing out your views/news.
4. Build an app or micro-site without creating a strategic framework first. This is a common mistake and is the reason many companies fail or give up on Social Media.
5. Get caught off guard in the event of a crisis. Have an agreed process in place for such eventualities and ensure Social Media is a key part of your communications plan.

By Luke Regan

Head of SEO and Social Media

Make It Rain

www.make-it-rain.co.uk/

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