Yes, you heard, me..... 7 SIMPLE THINGS that we do wrong as business owners when it comes to Social Media. Ask yourself, Am I doing this? and if so, how do I change it.
1) Have a Strategy/Plan: Yes, we all know that it is important to use social media to grow your business, and companies are jumping into this either with internal or external experts. But what is the specific purpose and strategy of what you wish to accomplish, and how will your efforts get you closer to that strategy.
2) Do It Well or Don't Do It At All: Yes, I know, I sound like my father, heaven help me. But in this case he was correct. If you are going to play with social media make sure that you know what you are doing and that you are utilizing it properly. If you are going to use a vendor to provide these services, are they actually providing the product that is doing what it should.
3) Different Channels Provide Different Benefits: Whether you are talking the ROI of a Facebook ad, or the value of a blog, know what the value and benefit is of different channels and ensure that your strategy is maximizing the strength of the channel and how it can work for you. Do you know the clients on a given channel, and do they fit your needs and opportunities?
4) What are the Direct and Indirect Benefits of a Channel: Recent research shows that while people find you via mobile applications and social networks, they frequently will book via another channel (Expedia, Orbitz, Brand Website, Kayak, etc.). This means that you have to truly understand how these channels feed guests to you and that their return may or may not be directly trackable. However, with current research projecting that as much as 30% of all reservation decisions are determined by data on mobile applications, do you really want to ignore this channel?
5) Content is King: People have been saying this for years, and still I see it being ignored. Take for example a national chain business hotel that contracts out the social media aspects of its marketing. Recently their provider posted the information that the hotel frequently offer its "lowest rates during the week, due to lack of demand and that weekend travelers should consider shifting to weekday travel". In a resort market this is true, but this was a traditional business hotel that has no difficulty in selling their weekday rooms.
6) Engagement is Queen: Are you provinding the opportunity for your consumers to interact with you? What have you done to make this a two way conversation? I have seen several persons focus on publishing a FAQ (frequently asked question list). Great, this saves you effort, but does it improve your customer interaction and dialoge? Tara Hunt recently posted an article on LinkedIn regarding the "5 Things Cusomters Don't Want to Hear... EVER". One of those items was they don't want to be sent to a place that says, find your answer at......
7) Social Media Means SOCIAL: The key to social media is not selling to your customer. It is about being social with them and through that social interaction, becoming a resource and possible business of choice. Think of social media as networking, introductions, relationship building, opportunities for guest service, and sell because you are such a valuable part of their network, that you are the only choice, once business becomes an option. Limit the amount of posts about you, and focus on what value that you are creating for them.
Please remember, it really is about these seven basic steps. As several of my mentors have repeatedly said... Keep It Simple..... Stupid....
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