I love when I go into an establishment and see promotional items that have social media icons printed on it to promote the businesses social networks. Sometimes it just says (become a fan!) and then lists their website address, others may have everything spelled out for you so there is no guessing or searching to do. When dealing with social media and building a following you want to give people simple steps to follow. The other day I ordered take out for lunch at a fairly new Chinese Food restaurant in town. Upon leaving I grabbed a menu and it had their location, phone number, business hours, social media icons and website information. I went back to the office and immediately went to their website to see what it looked like and go to their social media pages so I could fan and follow. There was just one issue… their social media icons weren’t listed on their website ANYWHERE!
I proceeded to search and see how long it would take me to find their social media pages. It was a bit frustrating because well first of all I thought they needed to be listed on their website; secondly their twitter handle wasn’t the exact name of the restaurant and that was insane to me especially because that’s what people would automatically think to search for with the links not being available anywhere else. After about fifteen minutes of looking for these social networking handles I finally got it only to see that it was a HUGE fail and not everyone is going to do what I did to find them. I also noticed that they aren’t very active on their social networks and don’t have much of a following. My advice would be to first and foremost add the social media links to their website on the front page. I can understand that not all twitter handles may be available exactly the way you want them to be but, you need to try and keep it as similar as possible to your business name and that’s why being able to link to it from a business website is so important or wherever the social media icons are placed online.
Social networks are used daily to develop communication between a business and potential clients or existing consumers. Successful marketing strategies tend to go viral. The key is to develop a plan when integrating social networks into your business. If you are clueless but willing to learn, I’d advise seeking a consultation with a social media marketing specialist and creating a plan that works for YOU that you can integrate into a scheduled routine. Consistency is a huge part of successful social media marketing strategies. If you are overwhelmed with the thought of adding one more thing to your plate then I’d say you need to consider hiring a social media professional to keep your social media pages current, by updating content frequently and engaging with your audience so you maintain your following, continue to grow and keep them informed. There’s no need to play hide and seek with social media for businesses, they should be (in our face) front and center where everyone can see them! What are your thoughts on this? Have you run into similar situations?