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Getting started in social media
4 steps you need to make before using social media for your small business
- Determine if your customers are online. While most people are online today, you need to think about if they'll have a desire to join your page. Choose the social media platforms that your customers are most likely to be a part of. A good way to determine if social media would be beneficial for your business is to see if your competitors are using it. If your competitors have fair amount of engaged fans, it may be a worthwhile option for your business as well.
 Establish goals. What are you trying to accomplish through social media? Increase sales? Generate conversation? Share special offers and news? It's also important to assemble a social media strategy and determine how you'll measure the success of your social media campaign.
- Create your own profile. Before you build a page for your business, make sure you're well versed in how that social media outlet operates. Build a personal page for yourself and play around before you create one for your business.
- Understand social media ethics and etiquette. Don't even begin to think about building your business page until you understand what's acceptable and what's frowned upon in the world of social media. Without this understanding, you may deter people from your company instead of attract them. A hard sales approach is definitely discouraged, while casual conversation usually creates a positive experience. Be sure to do your homework!
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E-mail etiquette
Follow these tips for professional e-mail communication. Your contact list will thank you.
Formatting and grammar:
 A pleasant greeting should be in every e-mail.
- Be sure everything is spelled correctly and your thoughts are complete before you hit the send button. Use the spell check if you aren't a strong speller.
- Choose professional font styles and sizes.
- Use emoticons sparingly and with good judgment.
CC: use:
- If you are cc:'ed on a business e-mail, you are typically not required to respond. Being cc:'ed on an e-mail generally acts as an FYI.
- Be careful to remove other e-mail addresses in that message when responding (instead of hitting "reply all") if you do not have anything of value to say to the group.
- Common courtesy is to not cc: someone if the e-mail doesn't directly pertain to them. Avoid copying someone while you're ironing out details. Instead, send them the final confirmation of the details that directly pertain to them.
Forwarding:
- Specify clearly why you are forwarding the e-mail.
- When you forward an e-mail, be sure to edit down only relevant text. Don't confuse the recipient by making them read through the back-and-forth chitchat.
- Avoid forwarding non-work related e-mails to your business contacts.
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Use coupons to draw business
Coupons are a great way to draw consumers to your business, as well as and track where customers are coming from. Americans are using coupons more than ever. Coupon redemption rose 7.9 percent during the first half of 2010, compared to the same time frame in 2009. Incorporate coupons into your advertisements to provide an incentive for potential customers to use your business.
The Building Industry of Southeast Michigan (BIA) and the Michigan Association of Recreation Vehicles & Campgrounds (MARVAC), two clients of All Seasons Communications, frequently use coupons in their advertisements to draw the public to their consumer shows. Each coupon has a small code printed on it, making it easy to track which mediums were most successful in driving traffic.
BIA |
MARVAC |
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