Social media for businesses is quite a different thing for businesses than it is for personal profiles. It is tricky because both businesses and individuals are playing in the same place. When you choose to enter the social media field for your business, you must outline your goals and your plan of action. To make social media work for your business it should increase your brand awareness and promote customer engagement and loyalty with promotional items. One of the biggest mistakes to stay away from is being overzealous with sales tactics in social media. Social channel communications can increase sales, but though staying top of mind with your consumers, fans, and followers. The best way to see how to perform well in social media for business is to evaluate what other businesses are doing right. Here is a list of 7 businesses that are doing the right thing on social media.

  1. Southwest Airlines. In an industry that is taking a lot of heat and that makes social media’s job that much harder. Their blog features employees sharing stories and experiences about how they love working for the company. Southwest connects with customers on Facebook and Twitter to respond to complaints and offer solutions. They are known for going the extra mile to apologize and make things right.
  2. Blendtec. Blendtec has made a name for themselves for years now with their video series “Will it Blend? In their YouTube videos they show the strength of their blenders’ ability by blending all kinds of things that you normally wouldn’t blend including new iPhones and other pop culture items. They videos have become very popular and viral and have led to big sales for the company.
  3. Zappos. Zappos is known for their reputation for excellent customer service in the online retailer space. They also have some great social media programs that highlight their customer service principles including the “fan of the week” program photo contests, and special social media promotions and coupons for the fans and followers.
  4. Starbucks. Starbuck’s tech savvy brand carries over into their social media channels. Some of the social initiatives include helping getting customers in touch with each other and sharing ideas.
  5. Nu Skin. This skin care company uses social media to create a global tight-knit community. Nu Skin does share testimonials and pictures of fans that are happy with their products. However, they also show images that promote healthy lifestyles including losing weight and getting fit. They also help inspire people to live healthy and happy by sharing inspirational quotes and recipes for healthy meals and exercise tips.
  6. Martell Home Buyers. This is a perfect example of how just about any type of company can incorporate social media into their marketing mix. Martell Home Buyers is a home constructions company that makes great use of their blog and social media networks to highlight photos of homes under construction, before and after processes, and happy home owners enjoying the finished project.

 

Social Media Don’ts for Business

We have showed you some of the companies doing the right thing with social media. Now we will highlight some of the tactics that you should avoid when using social media for business.

  1. Do not use social media as a sales channel first. Social media for business is about engagement and connecting with customers. Staying top of mind will help improve your sales, but always remember that social media is not for “selling”.
  2. Do not assume social media isn’t working. Measuring your social media return on investment wrong is very common. It is difficult to correlate social media directly to sales in the same way that we measure other online metrics such as search or paid advertising. Many sales can be attributed to social media but were not direct referrals in your analytics statistics.
  3. Do not fail to establish your company’s voice on social media. Before starting out, write the guideline and position for the company on social media. Make sure that all staff carry out that voice and maintain a company persona. This leads to consistency, reliability, and trustworthiness.
  4. Do not assume that social media will make your company likeable. Your company has to establish a persona and carry that through in all actions. This must be consistent across all channels and all customer facing departments.
  5. Do not fail to build relationships and listen to your fans, followers, and customers. As with any social interaction, the conversation cannot be one way.

 

Takeaways for Your Business

When looking at the companies that are successful in social media, apply their tactics to your business using your strengths. Evaluate what you do best and use that in your social media strategy. If your company is hyper focused on customer service like Zappos is, then use that in your social media. If your company is quirky and small but competing against big brands like Blendtec, then think of how you can stand out and run with it. Are you an expert in your industry? Show your expertise and credibility like Optimal Run does by helping customers know what to buy or what to do with your products once they do buy them. Does your product or service represent a lifestyle in the same way that Nu Skin represents healthy living? Latch on to that and continue to promote that and show how your products fit in with that way of life. One of the main takeaways should be that you need to commit to the strategy and to social media. It is a medium that you get out of what you put in.

If you require further information or have any specific questions, don’t hesitate to give a member of the GoPromotional team a call on 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today.