Make ethics part of social media campaign

The online conversation continues to explode in new and exciting directions. If your company is not participating on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Foursquare or any of the other popular social media outlets, you’re missing a viable opportunity to engage with your customers and prospective customers.

I know from experience that taking those first baby steps into social media is a huge learning curve. But businesses big and small can no longer sit on the sidelines and do nothing.

Earlier this year the Better Business Bureau serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming conducted a survey to get a handle on social media. Demographics of respondents indicate the busiest users are between 20 and 34 years of age (71 percent) followed by those 50 years and older (15 percent). Fifty-three percent of the respondents are employed full time, while 27 percent are students. Most respondents said they spend one to two hours daily on social media sites.

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A personal connection to a company is the most likely reason a customer or fan “friends,” “likes” or follows an organization, according to our survey. Information regarding events and promotions is the primary reason social-media users follow a business. Sixty-five percent believe advice in the form of reviews and recommendations is somewhat important as well.

Let’s take a global view:

• Facebook has more than 500 million active users who collectively spend 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook. The fastest growing demographic on Facebook is those 35 and older.
• Twitter gets 370,000 new signups daily and the 175 million registered users collectively tweet 95 million times a day.
• LinkedIn now has more than 100 million members in more than 200 million countries and territories. In addition, there are more than 1 million businesses with LinkedIn company pages.
• More than 13 million hours of video was uploaded to YouTube in 2010 and 35 hours of video are uploaded every minute.
• Seventy-seven percent of Internet users read blogs, 14 percent of which are corporate blogs.

Right way to engage

It’s the smart business owner who understands that engaging in social media must be a part of his or her business plan. But as with all components of doing business, there’s a right way, and a wrong way, to become engaged.

• Build trust. Good business is no longer just about the bottom line. It’s about building relationships. It’s about listening and then responding to customers who compliment or complain about your business real time as well as in tweets, on Facebook, even YouTube.
• Let customers see your personality — yours and your company’s. Remember, it doesn’t have to be all about business. For example, go ahead and tweet that you’re hitting the links for a local benefit golf tournament, check-in at a business seminar, or offer a giveaway on Facebook.
• Tell the truth. Trustworthy businesses always tell the truth. They don’t promise more than they can deliver, they don’t adorn the facts to make themselves stand out among the competition, and they admit when they’ve made mistakes.
• Strive for two-way conversations. It’s no longer all about you. Respond when customers tweet about you, leave a comment on Facebook, or comment at the end of your blog. Share links to news stories or videos and add a personal comment. Post photos from your company’s community volunteer efforts. Consider writing a blog post about a fun aspect of your job or a new product or service and always end with a question to encourage comments.
• Don’t edit the conversation. If you ask for input and comments on any given topic but don’t like the responses, you might be tempted to delete the question and responses altogether. Or if an online conversation started by fans or customers strikes a nerve — say, your fund-raising cookies contain an ingredient that is not rainforest friendly — you might want to censor the posts. The smart approach is to explain the situation and what your company plans to do to fix the problem or to improve upon the cookie recipe.
• Be transparent. Let customers know who you are, including your management team, and how your business can be contacted. Include your location and directions how to get there. Explain what your company is and what it does. Talk about new projects, new innovations, even new employees.
• Have fun. Social media is just that — social. And it’s OK if you need help getting started or staying engaged. Many local businesses offer full menus of social media services. But as with any business you plan to do business with, check them out first with your BBB at wynco.bbb.org.

Pam King is president/CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming.