Feeling Anti-Social?

With the ample "free" social marketing opportunities on the web these days, most business owners feel the pressure is on to participate. So they do. They set-up facebook pages, twitter accounts, blogs... the whole works. They alert their staff and "friends" and "followers"... oh my! These people promptly sign-up (employee/friend obligation, you know). And with the best intentions you share "What's on your mind", a tweet a "blah-og"... then six month later you realize you haven't repeated this process and now you feel like an ass. I'm speaking from experience.

So you (I) make a new years resolution to actually take advantage of these free marketing tools better, and post of update once a month... then I realize, it's already January 29th. Hmphf.

I'm sure I'm not the only business owner living this scenario. So what do you do if your social marketing seems, well, anti-social? Well - as of yet, I have no proof that any of this works, you'll have to check back in a few months to see, but it seems like a good plan:

1. Excuses, Excuses.
Come up with a good excuse for your 6 month absence... spontaneous coma, vision quest in the amazon... alright - not really. In all honesty anybody that noticed your lack of social marketing... and cared... would probably have contacted you, no excuse needed - just jump back in.

2. Set a date.
For each type of social marketing there is an "acceptable window of action".

Tweets are short and sweet and should be more frequent, think daily to every other day.
Note: Not every business/person should be on twitter. If you don't think you'll have something interesting to share 3x a week. Just don't tweet.

Facebook should be updated once or twice a week. The big question is, what do you post? I'll get to that in a moment...

Blogs are you best social marketing opportunity to gain ground in the search engines. The content (unlike your statues and tweets) is spidered and ranked in the search engines. Updating your blog at least once a month keeps new, consistent, keyword laden content out there for the spiders to find.

3. um... ah... uh... What to say.
Each social marketing tool also differs in the type of content you should use.

Tweets: Even though short and sweet, it can be hard to think of a new tweet 3x or more a week. Decide what your followers care about most and tweet along those lines. Do they want tips and tricks, product updates, specials, gossip? Mix it up and you'll keep your followers for a long time.

Facebook: At a minimum you'll need to post 4 statuses a week. You want each status to be "new" and interesting. (God love the people who continually post what they are eating, how well they slept or what a great/crappy/ridiculous day they are having). The best way to accomplish this is to plan the post for your business page.

For example:
Week 1: Announce new product/project
Week 2: Industry tip or news
Week 3: Current special or promo
Week 4: Notice to check out new blog - include title and topic description.

You may think of other types of posts that make more sense for your business. If you're out and about or attending events post that info. Give shout outs to star sales people, share press about your company or a new customer testimonial, just added a new product to your site? Announce that. Depending on your business, activity, industry and company size, you may be able to think of something new and interesting to post everyday.

Facebook Bonus: Once you have a solid Fan list, use them. Pose a question in your status that might give you insight for a new product, service, marketing campaign or blog article.

Blog: Blogs give you the most benefit, which as usual, means they take the most work. Your entries should be article length, audience friendly (consider your audience when deciding the tone and casualness of your blog) and informative and/or entertaining. Know what you're writing about - that makes it a bit easier!

So what should you write about? This is where I struggle. I don't want to be a "Blah-og" writer. I want to be informative and casual, maybe work in a little funny where I can. I know all this... but I still don't know what to write about. I decided on this topic because it is my current situation. It's not laziness that keeps me from updating my company facebook or blog, it's more the thought that I don't think anyone is waiting by their computer for what I have to say. I put this to a real-world test...

I told my 2-year old to stop jumping on the couch. He didn't listen. I shared some weekend plans with the hubby (while he was watching tv.. i know, i know) when said weekend arrived he was clueless to the plans, saying I'd never said a word. I told my 9 month old about the importance of a good nights sleep - yet he still insists on waking me up at 4am.

Taking all of this into consideration, I decided that the resounding answer to "Does anyone care to read what I have to say?" is NO! Will they? Maybe. But regardless the search engines will find and index this post, and maybe someday a potential client searching "What should a business post on facebook?" may read this, click over to my site and become my next big account. Which is something I certainly care about!

I will share some ideas on how to choose topics:
Make notes thru the month about things that you hear and see, save news stories related to your industry that you have "more to add" to, talk about a new product or service - whys, hows, whos, wheres. Discuss industry misconceptions, share your experience at an industry event... and if you just can't think of anything at all - ask a "guest writer" to contribute something and your off the hook for a month! Don't forget to advertise your new blog entry on your other social media.

With a little time investment, these social marketing tools can because a real aid to your business success online! Pay attention to what other companies do for more ideas (especially your competitors) and you'll be feeling a lot more "social" in no time!

Learn more about Angie Simonson and Main Idea Creative at:
http://www.mainideacreative.com or on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?filter=lf#!/pages/Duluth-MN/Main-Idea-Creative/110357028360?ref=search&sid=1340169459.5277815..1