Questions to ask (and answer) before your small business jumps onto Twitter or Facebook

Getting started with Social Media is so easy, you may be tempted to fire and then aim. This is a BAD IDEA. Here are some questions I've developed to help businesses think through their goals and target audience prior to jumping onto Twitter or Facebook.

#1 What would you like to achieve with your Social Media program? (choose top 5 and rank in order of importance):

• Building and promoting brand
• Increasing customer engagement
• Improving collaboration and communication
• Promoting thought leadership
• Networking
• Marketing/Sales campaigns
• Generate revenues
• Customer service/support
• Help with product development/market feedback
• Recruit and retain talent
• Generate ideas/innovation

#2 Community engagement: Choose the top 3 and rank importance for how you would like to engage with your community:

• Corporate Voice ( speak to your market)
• User-generated content (create excitement)
• Enthusiasts (stimulate a passion around a topic, activity, or hobby)
• Associates/subscribers (engage with members)
• Loyalty (build and reward loyalty among most loyal customers)
• Peer Support (help each other)
• Events (build and sustain buzz around specific events)
• Innovate (generate ideas)

#3 List top 10 keywords/phrases that your audience would be interested in

#4 Who are the top 5 thought leaders and influencers your audience respects?

#5 What web sites, magazines, and blogs does your audience interact with?

Thinking about and answering these questions will give you a solid footing on which to build a social media strategy for your business.

Twitter myths for small business: Part II

In part 1 we exposed the myth that people just want to buy things from you. Let's continue exploring the Twitter myths prevalent in the USA Today article by Steve Strauss that may be keeping some of you from trying Twitter for your small or medium sized business.

Myth #2: Twitter offers too much information. This is a common argument against the use of Twitter: "Who wants to hear about what you are having for lunch or if you are having a bad hair day." True. But nobody that I follow (for long) offers this type of information, and neither should you. Much has been made of a recent study that found 40% of Tweets are meaningless babble. I expect this will change over time as people learn how to better use Twitter, and as people find that nobody is listening to their meaningless babble.

Myth #3: It takes too much time. OK, I sort of agree with this one, so maybe calling it a myth is not quite right. However, as with anything in business, you have to invest in order to get a return. The important thing with Twitter is to not enter aimlessly, and then be frustrated that you aren't seeing a return on your time investment. This means a strategic review and assessment should be done BEFORE you start using Twitter, to determine what your business's overall goals are and how Twitter can possibly meet those goals. Also, there are methods to automate some of the tasks involved in using Twitter (automated feeds from your blog or other interesting news sources, for example). Finally, some Twitter outsourcing services are popping up where you can pay somebody to manage your Twitter activity for you.

Myth #4: 140 characters is not enough to be meaningful. This one is SO WRONG. The beauty of Twitter is that it forces you to be succinct. Also, the most valuable Tweets are actually summaries and pointers to additional information on a blog or other website. If you have more to say than can be captured in 140 characters, then write a blog entry and use Twitter to capture interest and exposure for your blog entry.

Bottom line? Twitter is a tool, and like all tools, it can be used successfully, and unsuccessfully. Also, it is an emerging business tool, so we can expect some false starts (like the 40% babble) that will likely soon get corrected. Start with an assessment of your objectives, and then start using Twitter. Don't let myths like those I've exposed above get in your way.

Twitter myths for small business

USA Today had an article earlier this year that showcased some Twitter myths that are confusing a lot of people. While Steve Strauss is undoubtedly an expert, and right for applying a healthy skepticism to "Twitter snake oil", he is dead wrong on a number of things.

Twitter small business myth #1: "'People just want to buy things from you."

OK sure, when I go to the local drug store for antacid, I want to buy it and leave. But I can buy that antacid anywhere -- I have no loyalty to one place or another. If you want to build loyalty, you need to provide people more than a transaction. Maybe it is a smile, or extra help getting stuff to your car, or your small business's involvement in the local community. These are the things that create loyalty. How can Twitter build loyal customers? There are many possibilities, and many are still emerging.  For example, let's say you run a local bakery (which Steve would probably say is not a candidate for Twitter usage). Why not build a following of people who are interested in baking tips? Things you've learned through the school of hard knocks. Share ideas for recipes, special ingredients, or tricks. Maybe even give out some of your recipes (gasp!) People who love baked goods will look forward to your Tweets. And you can be sure they will be thinking of you when they crave a luscious cinnamon roll!

Another example is a local coffee shop (another business Steve says is not a candidate for Twitter). WRONG! People who go to coffee shops, wait for it, LOVE coffee. I can identify with this one. I like to learn about different types of coffee, tips on brewing, trivia on coffee, etc. I would love to follow a coffee shop that gives out tweets like these. You don't need to be a marketing whiz to figure out that if somebody is exposed to your business brand often, they are more likely to visit and purchase something from it.

Next: more small business twitter myths including Too much information, Too much time, and 140 chars is not enough.

Effective Communication

Here is a blog post constructed exclusively from 10 tweets on Twitter. If you are a Twitter user, follow me! 

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Luntz's Words That Work. Ignore the partisanship: powerful stuff on effective communication. His 10 rules are gems (I break them often).

Rule 1. Simplicity: Use Small Words. How about "wrong name" instead of "misnomer"

Rule 2: Use Short Sentences. Instead of overly complex and wordy constructions, stick with simpler, easier to understand sentences, thereby

Rule 3: Credibility is as Important as Philosophy. These tweets will change your life, and make you a superior communicator like I.

Rule 4: Consistency Matters. Consistency Matters. Consistency Matters. Consistency Matters. Consistency Matters.

Rule 5: Novelty - Offer Something New. Tell me something I don't know. Like these 10 rules. Rule 6: Sound and Texture Matter: How about "Nyuck, nycuk, nycuk", "Porky Pig", or "Ba Boom"! Rule 7: Speak Aspirationally. You have great things to say, and now you can say them clearly and confidently.

Rule 8: Visualize. Imagine a crowd of 1500 giving a standing ovation to your next presentation.

Rule 9: Ask a Question. What will you do to become a better communicato

Rule 10: Provide Context and Explain Relevance. We have all been misunderstood. Now let's take control of our communication!

Crossing the Chasm (again) with New Relevance

I am working my way through a book I haven't read in literally a decade - Geoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm. If you have never read this book, stop what you are doing, go to the nearest bookstore, buy it, and READ IT! I'm not going to give a book review, but if you promise to read it, I'll give you a two sentence summary: High tech products follow a Technology Adoption Curve with distinct customer segments comprised of Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, and Laggards. There are gaps between these segments, but a large chasm from Early Adopters to the mainstream Early Majority segment. How to cross that chasm is the subject of the book.

Why rehash this today? Aside from the fact that the Technology Adoption Curve still holds, I believe the social media/social networking phenomenon has a huge roll to play in helping products cross the chasm. The book was written in 1991, when "social" was more closely associated with Karl Marx or ice cream than technology.  A key to getting the Early Majority segment to adopt your product is to appeal to the pragmatic bent of these types of consumers. They don't care about the technology, but want to know how it can improve what they are doing, today, right now. They want to know other people's experiences, and would rather hear from them than a slick sales person or a flashy vendor demo. In the past, this meant putting together a case study or "success story" on whatever meager evidence was available and leaving it behind in the hopes that it would be enough to push the prospect to a "yes". Fast forward to today... connect your prospects in an online community with existing customers. Let them ask questions, or read posts on real customer experiences. Scary? Yes, but oh so much more believable and relevant.

Many companies have  implemented customer communities, but these are typically private and isolated. Who do you know that is breaking the mold and opening up these conversations to prospects and other "outsiders?" Let me know and I'll summarize.