The wefinda guide to social media for small business

Talk about social media to a group of business people and you get a range of responses. Some have embraced social media and think that their business couldn’t do without it; others don’t see the point and will have nothing to do with it whilst the remainder nod sagely and then confess that they don’t really know what social media is or how it could help them.

In truth, social media is simply using the internet to have a conversation with your clients, suppliers and fellow businesses. Tapping the power of the internet business world, you can ask and answer questions, talk about new products and build your business’s reputation whilst at the same time benefit from the instant communication that the internet brings.

Social media can largely be broken down into three areas, your own web site, business specific forums and open communication sites.

Looking at these in reverse order, open communication will include web sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Originally thought of as ways to share personal thoughts and ideas, these sites are now recognised as providing a great way for businesses to share information with their clients, both existing and prospective as well as getting the world to talk about their products.

Business specific forums allow you to build up your businesses reputation as well as acting as a source of information. General forums such as UK Business Labs or LinkedIn allow you to share ideas on a wide range of business areas. Other forums are industry specific, such as IFA Life which promotes articles, news, chat forums and resources to the financial advice community.

Your own web site can also be a place for communication, not just an advert for your products. Post news and blogs and encourage readers to comment or ask questions.

How might social media work for me?
Taking just one example, let’s say you’ve invented a simple device which will cut down the use of water in your toilet, lets call it a brick. When you announce your invention to the world you will probably think about all the usual marketing devices including advertising, posters, adding the device to your web site etc.

Including social media would allow you to open up your invention to a wider audience and get the world chatting about your invention. So, on your web site you might add a series of blogs about how great a brick is for cutting down water use, the green credentials of a brick and so on. You’d then send teasers and links to the blogs to your contacts by e-mail and encourage the recipients to post comments.

Bringing in the business specific forums, you might join chat rooms and forums that cover areas such as green issues, bathroom design and cost saving. Starting discussion threads and answering questions will enhance your businesses reputation so that by the time you announce your new product you have gained access to a wide audience all of whom think highly of your business and are in tune with your ideas. These forums are also good places to carry out consumer tests so you can run discussions on colour of brick, range of sizes to suit different toilets etcetera.

Now you add in the open communication sites. Announce your new invention on Facebook and Twitter. Don’t just Tweet links to your blogs, try and come up with a really catchy tweet and your contacts will pass this on to their contacts, and so on and before you know it your brick might have gone viral and be the most talked about item on Twitter or Facebook. Make a fun film about your brick and how to install it and post it on YouTube. Post links to the video on your web and on Twitter and Facebook and your chat forums encourage your contacts to look at the video and comment.

Now the whole world is talking about and looking at your new invention and the best bit is that it only costs a few minutes of your time to create all this great publicity for minimal cost.

A Social Media success story
In April 2009 a tweet on one side of the Atlantic got picked up by someone on the other side. A few tweets later and Like Minds, a way of sharing social media ideas and inspiring others was born. The first event held that October had over 200 attendees with a further 560 taking part on line, a success considering the first tweet about the event was only sent out six weeks beforehand with all publicity and arrangements for the event solely on social media platforms. Since its start, Like Minds has gone from strength to strength with international events being added and the last UK event attracting over 1,500 virtual participants and raising over £150,000 for the local economy.

With successes like this coming from a single chance tweet, it is easy to see how a planned social media campaign could transform any business and why so many companies are integrating social media into their day to day life.