Social Media, once meant for recreation and time pass has now become one of the biggest and important hubs for business. With the number of businesses involving in the social conversation increasing rapidly, it is getting tougher for new businesses to venture and capture space in the social web and achieve results.
The main mistake that businesses do while risking into social media is to step right in, without thinking about coalitions, security issues, engagement tactics or analytics. Starting without having a predefined goal is like travelling without a destination. So you need to have specific goals long before you step into the social web.
Here are few best practices you need to take care of before you roll out your social media efforts for your business.
Have a social media policy:
People commit a lot of mistakes when it comes to social media and then try to correct them. This is possible when the social media profile is of an individual. But when it is for an organization or a business, workforce handling the social media profiles should take utmost care to avoid mishaps. Your social media policy should explain about the corporate guidelines and the limitations of an employee when he/she posts something on the social web using business social media profiles.
Identify the social networking sites where your audience is:
When you are at the budding stage on the social web, you need to be careful and precise while choosing the sites from which you are going to communicate with your customers. Do an extensive research to know where your audience is and build your brand on those sites. It is always better to go where your audience is rather than trying to pool in people where you are.
Be all ears to the information on the web:
Once you decide on the social networking sites you would work on, now derive conclusions as to what you will have to listen to. Now there are millions of messages sent daily and if you want to make sure that you listen to just the right ones, you need to have sharp ears and to catch up what you require. Follow or join only certain people or communities to get the right information you would need.
Measure everything – from click to conversation:
Managing an ever growing social community is no easy task. However with tools like Simplify360, you can get insights that will help you in your daily interactive efforts. Tracking every metrics can help you identify what works and what doesn’t for your business. It also leverages to create better strategies and engage with relevant communities and groups.
Five questions you need to ask yourself before you publish something on social media are:
1 Did I include keywords?
2 Is the content engaging?
3 Will the content give way to lead generation?
4 Is the content being shared of any value to my target audience?
5 Is my posting frequency right?
Few aspects to consider on the social web:
Be authentic | Be accurate | Be share-worthy | Be respectful | Be positive | Be conversational
