6 Elements You Need to Build the Right Social-Media Strategy for Your Business

An all-too-common question I get from startups and small businesses is “What’s the right social-media platform for my business?” Is it Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, or one of the other 100 active and emerging platforms vying for attention these days? The right answer is that not all of these are worth your attention, but I always recommend that you start with at least one.

The “Tyranny of the OR” is a concept from the old classic business bestseller Built to Last by James C. Collins. Too many executives believe that things must be either A or B and can’t be both. The reality is that most businesses need to embrace the “Genius of the AND,” meaning they should use and monitor more than one of the available platforms, based on their objectives.

If you are in the more than 30 percent of all small businesses that still ignore social media, you need to read Dave Carroll’s book United Breaks Guitars. It highlights the story of how United Airlines paid no attention to social media while Dave’s story of a crushed guitar and poor customer service went viral around the world. United Airlines spent a long time recovering from that debacle.

Thus, your objectives for social media should at least include monitoring your online reputation on the top platforms and hopefully taking the minimum actions to turn any negatives into positives for the rest of us. Of course, the right approach is to be proactive along all the following fronts:

1. Reputation management. You can’t ignore the fact that Facebook now has over 3 billion monthly active users who may be talking about you, and there are 34 other platforms, per Wikipedia, that together have over 100 million users. You need to protect and grow your brand, so the first step is to know what’s going on, and the best defense is a good offense.

2. Build your brand and expert visibility. Engaging in social media and blogging on a regular basis is a low-cost way to achieve visibility, and become the go-to person for that topic and the voice that people trust in your industry. That’s how you brand yourself as an expert in your niche and make your company the one that others seek out and turn to. Customers today trust those they know and those they see others trusting.

3. Increase customer leads and conversion. With over 60 percent of the world’s population now using social media, at least 30 percent look at profiles on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn before buying any product or service. Of those, approximately 70 percent said they wouldn’t deal with a new company if it didn’t have a social-media presence. You need to be there.

4. Maximize customer retention. It’s a well-known axiom of business that efforts to retain existing customers have tremendous payback compared to the costs of attracting new customers. Courting them with ongoing updates and special offers through their social networks is a natural way to keep their loyalty.

5. Proactive customer service. Without social media, companies have to rely on incoming calls and messages to address customer problems and concerns with products and services. Why not ask them for feedback before there is a problem, and watch what they are telling their friends, both good and bad?

6. Keep up with the competition. Last year, Facebook’s revenue from advertising was over $130 billion, which was a 50 percent year-over-year increase. Almost 40 percent of small businesses that sell on Facebook say it is their sole sales channel. Ignoring what your competition does is sure to limit your business longevity.

So what are the best social-media platforms for small business, according to these industry leaders? It never hurts to look at where the other players are. According to data from Inc. 5000 company CEOs, the major hitters are LinkedIn (58 percent), Facebook (18 percent), and Instagram (12 percent). I recommend that one or more of these be the point of entry for every business.

For the new platforms and all the rest, that’s where tracking and testing comes in. Set some objectives, pick a likely platform, set some measurements, and do a 30-day trial. If you don’t get results, it might be a mismatch for your target market. If you see progress, double down and add even more content or focus to continue the positive momentum.

So there is no one magic social-media platform for any business, just like there has never been only one marketing channel for any business. The best marketing programs today for small businesses involve the “genius of the AND,” including traditional print and video advertising, complemented by proactive efforts in a selection of the new social-media domains. Don’t put all your marketing eggs in one basket.