The Ocean Agency

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Remember a couple years ago when the term “Social Media” was foreign to all of us. Now, everyone and their mother (literally – my mom friended me on Facebook last week) is on the bandwagon trying to get the hang of this Social Media thing.

It’s become much more than a tool to stay connected with your old high school buddies, or to update your friends on what you ate for dinner last night. Social Media has become a regular part of our daily lives, and for businesses, an integral part of their marketing and PR strategies.

So with everyone on board – how does a business stand out from the rest? At the end of the day – Social Media is about forging, nurturing, and promoting relationships. The one on one connection Social Media allows between businesses and their consumers are allowing small businesses to not only compete with larger corporations, but thrive and succeed where the competition falls short.

Here in Chicago – there are a lot of businesses who “get” Social Media –
Threadless
Foiled Cupcakes,
GroupOn and
Grubhub to name a few.

Our generation is wise to the corporate act – and very rarely do we buy into a straight up sales pitch. This is why, when it comes to online advertising, we’re seeing more affiliate geo-targeted campaigns rather than pure Google ads. Businesses that get it focus on building a relationship first, helping us realize that there is a need or want there, and then acting on it.

Mari Luangrath, founder of Chicago-based Foiled Cupcakes, connected with me as a friend. She followed me several months ago and since then, we’ve become good friends both on and offline. Not once did she sell me on her product – not once did she throw a sales pitch my way. She focused solely on building a genuine relationship and friendship with me. Now I’m days away from signing a contract to have Foiled Cupcakes cater my wedding.

So what can business learn from this? What’s the take away? Here are some basic takeaways to implement into your Social Media marketing strategy:

Be personable

This is above all the most important thing. As a representative of your business, yet also a “regular” person – there can be a delicate and sometimes difficult balance between your personal and professional self. The trick is to not let the balance beam sway to heavily in either direction – you must represent your business but also be yourself. Be someone people want to talk to – even if you’re selling running shoes, it’s OK to talk to your community about the Lady Gaga concert last weekend. When you become a “real” person instead of a corporate identity, people will forget you’re even trying to sell them something.

Know your audience

A critical piece to the puzzle is knowing your audience –and spending a lot of time LISTENING to their conversations. What are they talking about, what are they interested in? Take note of who’s talking to who and what they’re talking about, before jumping into the conversation yourself. Listening is key, but taking action at the right time by monitoring your communities behavior is even more important.

Invest in social media

Social Media isn’t something you can throw in as an afterthought. To be successful, you need to be present and engaged. Whether this means hiring an online “Community Manager” on your staff (a growing trend amongst businesses) or outsourcing your Social Media Management to an outside firm, you need someone who can and will be engaged in the community and actively involved in conversation. With Social Media, the old adage is true – you get what you give.

The point is simple – relationships are the foundation of any good business and Social Media allows us as individuals and businesses to establish those relationships easier than ever before. Connect first, sell second – a simple recipe small businesses are using to dominate the local market.

What businesses can you think of that are “doing it right” with Social Media?