How to Break Through the Clutter and Establish Your Business Brand with Social Media

8 Steps to Business Brand Social Media Greatness: Be unique, be your authentic self, consult an expert, write a plan, be engaging, be consistent and determined, be in it for the long haul and you’ll be on your way to social media, digital marketing, and business brand success!

As a small or medium size business, your to-do list is likely as long as your arm, if not longer. When it comes to social media and your overall digital marketing, it’s no different. In addition, like any aspect of your business you’ll want to to do it well or not at all. To make an impact in social media you need a firm plan and an expert on your team to help you prioritise. So here’s a checklist to bookmark (heck, even print it out and hang it on your wall!) to check off your progress in transforming your business with social media.

1. Social Media Etiquette

• Promote others selflessly without expecting anything in return
• Listen with intent, respond in a timely fashion, and share relevant information preferably to help people
• Engage regularly with those who share your content

2. Using Social Media

• Treat Twitter like a conversation – listen, then join it
• On LinkedIn, ask people you have worked with for recommendations, it helps sometimes to suggest what they could focus on
• Create a Fan page for your business to build a presence on Facebook

3. Blogging

• Write regular blog entries relevant and interesting to those who may be your customers or clients
• Optimise your articles using basic SEO rules
• Integrate your blog articles into newsletters and other social platforms

4. Social Media Training

• Be clear on who is going to drive social media in your business and collaborate and train them as part of your ongoing plan
• Work with a social media and/or digital marketing expert
• Have a strategic plan for social media and your extended digital marketing efforts

5. Social Media Monitoring

• Use recommended monitoring tools to track content and engagement results
• Monitor and track trends and watch, view and analyse data
• Build tailor made dashboards with your social media expert so you can explain data to  superiors and other colleagues

6. Social Media Listening

• Set up google alerts for terms, words, and phrases that are directly related to your business
• Read updates from others in your industry and engage in useful and regular conversations
• Look at competitors as potential partners and talk to them like you would in any collaborative situation

7. Social Media Engagement

• Be interesting, unique, relevant, and helpful to your community
• Share others’ content (in some cases before you even share your own)
• Interact with the community in a social discussion before pushing industry musings
• Know when to stop selling if given the opportunity to push your own wares in the first place, it’s a little bit like “only speak when spoken to”

8. Social Media Analysis

• Focus on driving engagement not just follower numbers
• Metrics should relate to your higher-level business goals and speak to the core social media strategy
• Consult your social media expert for meaning, there’s a reason for every statistic (even if a mundane and not particularly helpful one)

Social Media strategy with your business is a journey. Yes you should start with a clear plan, but be prepared to shift tactics once you get some solid empirical data. Don’t be obsessed with analytics however, have fun with it and listen to feedback from your colleagues, friends, partners, and even your competitors – yes shock horror, even your competitors!

The above tips are just the beginning and are obviously very much social media focussed. For further advice on a big picture integrated digital marketing strategy reach out to me

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Ian Hopkinson

Founder | Head of Results at Mad Scientist Digital

Ian Hopkinson is a digital creative who is passionate about the online marketplace and its potential to enable smaller businesses to compete on a global stage.

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