It’s National Small Business Week-a client base we love to work with to make an impact! Michelle, Beth, Steve and I have blogged about social marketing extensively in many articles over the last 4 months. Hopefully we have convinced you to start working with it, if we haven’t here are some of the latest stats about its relevance. It’s May–are you still debating it? Maybe you are ready to go with social media. Here’s a quick refresher when setting it up for your business.
Define, Define, Define, Define
Define Goals.
Think about what you are trying to accomplish (this should be done with more than 1 person) and then set goals. Do you have a strategy? Can social media help you reach these goals? Do you want a certain number of fans, friends or followers? Are you trying to create engaged customers? “Because everyone else is doing it” is not a reason to start.
Define Success
What is success? What is failure? Maybe you want to measure how often visitors respond to posts or the number of followers created. Here are some metrics you should consider:
- Number of followers, fans, friends, etc.
- Number of comments, posts, retweets, etc.
- Time spent on site
- Bookmarks
- Feedback
Metrics get you to start measuring.
Define Measurement
If you are using Facebook or YouTube, there are analytical tools to see how your page or video is doing. Take the time and learn how these tools work.
If you are tracking visits to your site, you need a Web tracking tool like Google Analytics. If you have a word press site, you can check out the Plesk Statistics. If you are using Facebook, you might be interested in this article on adding Google Analytics to your Facebook fan page.
One online measurement tool I have started using is Klout. The Klout score is a way to measure your influence (retweets, likes, comments) across 3 platforms-Twitter, Facebook and Linked In. It is a good way to see how active your friends, followers and fans are in social media. My goal is to raise my Klout score throughout the rest of the year.
Define Timeline
Define how often you will review the statistics. Depending on your performance metrics, you may capture measurement data hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly. And every website should have its statistics reviewed monthly. Online neglect is one of the fastest ways to increase your competitors’ customer base.
Once you have the data, create a summary. Don’t forget to share the data-outline each initiative to compare and identify what seems to be working and what isn’t. Then take action. Compare to your overall strategy and goals. Have you achieved your goals? If not, look at what you can do to achieve the goals of the strategy, the strategy might need to be changed, too.
Define, Debate, Revise, Repeat
Respect the time and effort it takes to do social marketing well. If you don’t respect the time and effort to cultivate your customers, social marketing will never work for you. Social Marketing is not going away, in fact it is really just getting started.
When people were using only MySpace and when Facebook firstly appeared, I was one of rare people using it (in my field especially) . Gradually I was conviced in social networks power to influence others, but influence comes slowly and with precise plan your career will have only benefits!
Mark,
I agree; knowing WHY you are on the social network is so key. It helps you create posts and keeps you in check, so you don’t like/comment on something that could get you in trouble. In some ways, social media is like running a race–the plan is evaluating and preparing for the course and the platform you use is like the equipment/gear; then it is up to you to take off!