Oct 6, 2009 - Comments: 0

The Social Media for Business 5-Step Starter Kit

Posted by Heidi Strom Moon under Analytics , CDG & Clients , Copywriting , Interactive Marketing , Social Media , Web Strategy

The big day has arrived. You're responsible for marketing your business or organization and you're ready to take the plunge into social media. 

You've talked the board into it. You've talked your boss into it.

Now what?

Wouldn't it be nice if you had a Starter Kit? 

This is CDG Interactive's kit. These are five steps we take with our clients -- and that any business can take when getting into social media.

1. Set a framework for participation. Before anyone at your organization dives into the many channels of social media, be sure they know the rules of engagement: what are they allowed to do on your company's behalf? What are they encouraged to do? What are the big no-no's?

Another resource: Social Media Governance.

2. Generate good content. Whether it's a 140-character tweet on Twitter, or a weekly blog post, give your audience useful, insightful, interesting or even entertaining content, and they'll keep coming back. Think of it as "lights, camera, copywriting."

Another resource: Copyblogger.

3. Promote yourself on Facebook. Thousands of business, from the smallest mom-and-pops to the biggest brands, are using Facebook to connect with consumers or recruit new employees -- or both. Keep in mind that a business's Facebook page must be created by a person's individual Facebook account. So before you start, make sure that individual's Facebook privacy settings are appropriately set. Once you're up and running, further drive traffic to your page with a Facebook ad campaign.

Another resource: Mashable.

4. Promote yourself on Twitter. Another way to drive traffic to your site, blog and Facebook page -- which of course will all be cross-linked to each other -- is to create a corporate Twitter account. Assign one or two dedicated employees to tweet on a regular basis and monitor replies. Make sure they know the rules of Twitter etiquette and use a hashtag in their tweets whenever possible.

Another resource: Chris Brogan.

5. Track your efforts. Once everything is up and running, be sure to track the results using your favorite analytics package, because the best marketing strategy is a data-driven marketing strategy. And remember to go beyond analytics basics.

Another resource: Avinash Kaushik.

  • Has your business started using social media yet?
  • What areas do you have questions about?
  • What can CDG help you with?

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