The Small Biz Guide to Social Media

By Geoff Spick (@Goffee71) Aug 29, 2011

When your business, from a mom-and-pop outfit to a local store, starts using social media, things can be confusing as you move from a personal-use mindset to a sales, marketing or support style of use.

Starting to Do Social

The rough waters of our current economic times might seem perilous for smaller companies, but social media offers a quick, largely free and exciting way to gain and interact with potential customers, increase sales and gain loyalty.

Using a local approach via social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, if you can only reach out to a small market, can bring customers flocking if you have something to sell. If your business makes a product, then reaching out to the world via selling sites such as eBay can bring business from the four corners of the globe.

If your business offers a service, social media can act as a way to introduce them to potential clients. Business-focused social services, such as LinkedIn and local business networks, are ideal ways to expand your contacts and client base.

But none of this is any use if you are unsure of what to say, how to act or what to offer. There are many costly courses out there to train people in the right approach to social media, which midsize companies can afford, but for any smaller business, just using common sense is a good alternative.

Taking Your First Social Steps

Any business can do this, from independent coffee shops to art supply or hardware stores, from a local computer seller to a home-based design agency — all it takes is a little effort to take advantage of the three big social media sites. Joining Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is free and getting the word out costs nothing.

But there are a few steps to learn before you can go running and shouting your social mouth off. For a start, find a company similar to yours and monitor what they do. Get a feel for how social interaction works and examine what people are prepared to offer, be it discounts, advice, tutorials or comedy, to get some of that loyalty and interaction.

When you've got the lay of the land, signing up to Facebook and Twitter takes about a minute, if you can offer some video content, then YouTube is a great extra to be a part of. Start befriending locals, area companies, social groups and networks. Using Twitter's "Nearby" search is a great way to see who's around. Search for your neighborhood on Facebook "Pages" could dig up all kinds of groups, both serious and fun. Allow some time for people to befriend you, too, and we're ready to go.

Treat Your First Moves as a Relaunch

Knowing what to say and offer is the key to this exercise. Being a little bit brave and imaginative can work wonders. Whatever you do attempt, start with a bang. If it's a shop, have a sale. If you're selling services, announce discounts. If there's a bigger rival nearby, offer to undercut them (for a limited time).

For example, that local coffee shop could start a Twitter account. That allimportant first tweet has to say is "Hi, we're located [here], we offer [this], please drop in and say 'hello.'" As the Twitter account gains in activity, keep things moving with small offers and observations about what else is available/happening nearby.

Once the shop has enough followers in the area, start offering free extra services — Wi-Fi (if it doesn’t already), perhaps a book-reading morning, deals with other local stores. Keep up a regular supply of buy-one-get-one-frees and meal deals. In one sweep, you've attracted some technical types, bargain hunters and literary folk, all of whom are likely to spread the word if they have a good experience at the shop. While you might only get a small response at first, it can grow to reasonable proportions quickly.