As 2013 winds down, we’ve made it a priority to pull together our best stories across numerous categories — from PR and entrepreneurship, to our Do What You Love series. Clearly, social media deserves equal billing alongside that trio, and so we’re excited to share this year’s list of top social media tips for startups and small businesses alike.
1. The Internet is a big place, actually infinite, and if you want customers loyal enough to help you cover it with brand-positive dialogue, your marketing (and indeed, your entire company, but let’s start in our own backyard) needs to enlist them as trusted partners. You need to inspire them to imagine alongside you, building the brand through their own experiences and dialogue, so they’re not just engaged but involved.
2. Social media is the news breaker and the information relay for today. In times of crisis or criticism, it’s also the reason that organizations are now publicly on the hook to deliver timely resolution. Twitter and Facebook keep problems – and their resolutions – public and honest.
3. Know your brand – and stick with it. Knowing your brand means sharing what appeals to and benefits your audience/community, and avoiding what may turn them off.
4. Social by proxy isn’t social – it’s at best nothing more than an authorized micro-blog. When Tom Cruise tweets, is it Tom Cruise tweeting or is it a random in a cube farm?
5. As any entrepreneur will tell you, there are few things in the world of business that are more valuable than a great network. After all, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. And when it comes time to start a new enterprise, expand a company, raise funds or even find a co-founder, you’ll be relying on the value of your network to help you accomplish these milestones.
6. Social is not search: When placing ads on Twitter, remember that you’re reaching people in the context of social media, where people expect much different behavior than in search.
7. Social media works, but be thoughtful in your approach: Take the time to study the competitors in your space and see what platforms work best for them. Remember that there are different, but overlapping audiences between social platforms.
8. Social media and sales: Business relationships today are no longer hard-edged and linear; they’re a two-way arc, inseparable from personal brands. This is the way our new social, global society has turned sales on its head.
9. The difference between community management and social media: Community management is one of those roles for which everyone assumes that they know exactly what it is that you do. “Oh, you’re a community manager …so, you do social media, right?”
If only the answer were that simple.