Social Media, Where to Begin?
With over 500,000,000 plus (not a typo) users worldwide Facebook has gone from college campus cool to wow my 83 year old grandma has a Facebook account. If you’re not on Facebook chances are you most of your customers are, even the ones who you think aren’t probably are. So where to start? That is the question I get a lot from small business owners looking to engage their customers in social media.
The easiest place to start is to start with a personal page and start learning the lingo, feel, and pace of social media on a personal level before jeopardizing your business reputation. Once you get involved you will quickly realize how fast paced social media is, and the power of the Facebook platform. So if you are going to make a mistake make it first with personal friends and family, and not your customers.
After you start reconnecting with friends and family on Facebook I suggest you start to seek business pages you have an interest in. If you work in insurance start seeking carrier pages and watch what they do and start to form an opinion of what you like and dislike about how they present information. Along with “liking” carrier pages seek out insurance agents, trade associations, and other local businesses. Once you have monitored these pages and you feel comfortable with Facebook, the jargon and speed of it all then launch a business page.
Finally, keep in mind once you start in social media for your business you have to maintain the relationships you are trying to build. That means posting regularly, giving value in your posts, and responding to both positive and negative comments left on your page (responding to comments is a whole another blog post, stay tuned.) The best small businesses in my opinion use their Facebook page as a community resource bulletin board highlighting, community involvement, the value their business brings to the community, and the local events they sponsor. Facebook is not a place to “sell” it is a place for engagement just like the local coffee shop.
The Author: Brad Heutmaker, MBA, is a Regional Executive for a National Internet Marketing & Insurance Lead Generation firm in the United States. He personally works with some of the largest insurance carriers and agencies in the country. You can follow Brad on Twitter @bradheutmaker or “Like” his Facebook Page – Brad Heutmaker SPEAKS
