There’s no doubt about it. These
days a small business has to be aware of the role the internet, and all the
various social media sites on the internet, plays in successfully marketing the
business. But I know first- hand that navigating through the maze of
information and how-to’s can be overwhelming.
Less than a year ago, I was
strictly on the social and personal side of social media sites but recently I
jumped feet first into helping GraceSoft/Easy
InnKeeping’s Marketing Department. Now I’m trying to learn how sites likeFacebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter can
be used not just for marketing a small business, but also how they can be used
to expand the level of customer relations our company has with the properties
that use our product.
Fortunately for me, there’s HubSpot to
the rescue. Not only do they make things like creating a blog on the company
website really easy and manageable, but HubSpot continually offers a wealth of
understandable information on everything from how to write a good blog article
to how to set up company social media sites to how to get that blog article
onto those company media sites. If you’re not a HubSpot user, there’s still a
ton of information out there on how to use social media. Social Media Examiner, for instance, is an
easy to read blog with some great articles. That’s one I follow on Google+. I
also routinely check out marketing articles on the news feed on LinkedIn. I’m
learning a lot, and hopefully some of what I’ve learned will be helpful to you,
too.
So, what are some of the first
things a small business can do about making their presence known on the social
media sites?
- Decide who your target audience is.
We’re a B2B (business to
business) company here, so the social media site that works best for us may not
be the same as someone who manages a B2C (business to consumer) property. Our
target audience is not only our clients who use Easy InnKeeping as their
property management software but also other properties who are interested in
finding out more about hotel reservation software. Who is it that you want to
connect with?
- Figure out what it is you want to share.
Do you want to show pictures and
create a more interactive place where guests can share their experiences of
their stays at your hotel or B&B? Are you trying to attract more
business travelers? Do you specialize in creating weddings that women dream of?
The answers would be - take a look at Facebook; try setting up a business page on LinkedIn;
and check out one of the newest social media sites, Pinterest.
- Be realistic about how much time and effort you have to spend on social media.
While it might seem really nice
to have a presence on as many sites as you can, if you can’t keep up with
updating all of them regularly, you could send more of a negative message to
guests and potential guests than a positive one. It’s okay to try out the
different ones, to see which sites work best for you. But once you figure that
out, if you concentrate on just a few sites where you get the most guest
interaction, that’s where you'll get the most return for your time and effort.
