When I was little — long before I ever knew advertising was a career — I fell in love with taglines. But I wasn’t the only one, people my age still quote the age old Nike tagline: Just Do It, and (I’m sure I’m dating myself) Kentucky Fried Chicken’s: We Do Chicken Right. The reason people like quoting and making puns out of those now clichés is because even after all those years, those words still ring true.
Just two days ago I sat across from a prospective client of mine who was considering having us build a Social Media program for his restaurant. As he sat through our quick demonstration on how Social Media builds relationships, we were able to educate him on how those relationships turn into restaurant traffic and into dollars and cents for his bottom line. When the meeting was nearly done, I looked the client in the eye and put my own spin on KFC’s iconic gem, “I know it’s a lot of information to digest in one sitting, but if you take nothing else away from this meeting, hear this: If you can’t do it right, don’t do it.”
Do I regret saying it? Absolutely NOT! That’s how passionately I feel about Social Media Marketing. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Don’t waste your chance!
I could see the wheels spinning internally. Although he never said it, I could tell he was thinking what lots of prospective clients do. I know I need a professional Social Media manager, but how can I get it out of the resources I already have? This will take a lot of time. Do I have to hire someone?
Here are some simple do’s and don’ts of Social Media for Business:
DO:
- Develop and follow a plan – Just as you wouldn’t approach any other type of Marketing without a plan, don’t approach social media without goals a budget and expected ROI.
- Integrate everything – Make every dollar you spend work together to deliver consistent brand positioning and messaging. Say it well and say it often.
- Share plans with your team – Be sure that everyone on your team is on the same page.
- Invest Time – To ‘do it right’, Social Media requires daily attention. That doesn’t mean full-time attention, but someone should carve out a portion of their day to make your program a success.
- Reward the relationship with contests, special offers, etc. – Let’s face it. Customers are doing you a favor by connecting with your business socially. Make it worth their while!
DON’T:
- Ignore Social Media – I think it’s obvious to everyone that Social Media is growing and is not going anywhere anytime soon. In 2001, you needed a website. In 2011, you need Social Media.
- Launch and Leave – I can’t tell you how many times my colleagues and I see people start a blog or a Facebook page and their last post was 6 months ago. If you don’t use it, your customers will not see it as a viable mode of communication with you.
- Expect it grow on it’s own – If you build it, they will not come. Social Media requires implementation of your push strategy.
- Impose personal beliefs – There is a place for religion and politics, but that place is not your Social Network.
- Forget to make it fun – Relationship building will result in more business, because now customers aren’t buying from the [restaurant]. They have a “friend” in the [restaurant] business.
As for my potential client in the restaurant business, I’d like to tell you he made the right decision and hired Social.Motive to manage his Social Media program, but the jury’s still out on that at the moment. Either way I hope he gets the chance to ‘do it right’ like KFC.
–
Shalanna
