by Julia Paulus Ogilvie

Social Media Marketing - A way for business owners to take control, either personally or by outsourcing, of the promotion of a “brand” surrounding their product or service. “Social media makes it easy for businesses to communicate directly with the public while driving web traffic back to their website, where they can capture the contact information from the visitors for future marketing opportunities,” says Ed Mayuga, partner/principal at AMM Communications, Public Relations Marketing. “The ultimate goal is for the potential customer to pick up the phone and call or submit an e-mail address to follow up. Social media marketing is a great business development and lead generation tool, with low barriers to entry and low cost to manage.”

Five Tips for Business Owners to Make the Most of Social Media

Don’t become overwhelmed. The social media landscape is constantly evolving, so it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the number of social networks and the flood of information you can encounter. To avoid becoming overwhelmed, Mayuga suggests browsing the social media site to get a feel for what others are talking about before you dive into it. “I would recommend registering your desired usernames as soon as possible, though, because the one you want may be taken if you wait too long,” he says. “Then start building your network slowly, and be selective about who you invite and accept into your network. You don’t have to accept every invitation that comes along, and you can usually delete contacts from your network if you no longer want to interact with them, without the other party knowing.”

Start with one network, such as LinkedIn. “LinkedIn has over 150 million members in over 200 countries and is the most widely accepted social network for business users,” says Mayuga. “If you haven’t created your LinkedIn profile yet, this is the best network to start. Don’t make the mistake of making your LinkedIn profile look like your résumé! LinkedIn is so much more than that and is an excellent resource for business development and lead generation. Once you have set up your basic profile, then complete your company profile and join relevant industry groups as well.”

Drive traffic back to your website. Picturing your website as the “hub” of your activity and social media networks as the “spokes” radiating outward from your website can bring your social media marketing together and build your business. “These spokes work in both directions – sending out links, pictures, updates from your website while driving traffic back to your site,” says Mayuga. “Provided that you have an engaging website, you can entice potential clients to stay, and if they like what they see, they may pick up the phone and call you for an appointment.”

Don’t try to control what your employees say; focus on “what good looks like.” Mayuga believes it’s better to catch an employee doing something right than to punish him or her for doing something wrong when it comes to social media. “You should think about what is acceptable and positive to post regarding your brand,” he says. “While you can control, to some degree, what an employee posts on a work computer, you don’t have control over their personal computers or mobile devices. That is why it is important to focus on ‘what good looks like’ and provide specific examples of acceptable posts as part of an overall social media policy.”

Consistency and frequency are the keys to success. For social media to be effective, it must be consistent and frequent, just like other marketing campaigns. “It takes time to build a robust network, and it is better to focus on quality network contacts versus quantity,” says Mayuga. “All it takes is one person in your network to like what you say, to forward that post to their 1,000 contacts, which has a multiplier effect. Effective engagement begins with posting stories, advice, tips, etc. that provide assistance to or evoke emotion in your audience. Funny and humorous posts, as they relate to your brand, are also very effective. Plan to post at least once a day and gauge your success after a month, tailoring your post frequency as necessary. Also, don’t forget to respond and thank people who comment on your posts in a timely manner.”

Promoting Your Business With Social Media
When psychiatrist Arturo Taca wanted to develop his substance abuse program, he knew he needed to promote, but he didn’t know which marketing avenue to take. “The problem was that doctors aren’t trained to market an independent business,” says Taca. “I didn’t know how to market it or tell the public why it was different.”
That’s when he decided to reach out to Ed Mayuga, partner/principal at AMM Communications, Public Relations Marketing. “I asked Ed to come in and rebrand the program I offer,” says Taca.
“He said I needed to start with a new name and website. To drive people to the website, I needed to start a Facebook and LinkedIn page, blogging, and networking. All of those activities generated traffic to the website and calls. We also did SEO and a Google ad campaign to drive more traffic to the website.”
For Taca, social media turned out to be an effective source of marketing. “You get a lot of bang for your buck, and it’s an easy way to reach the public. It was a natural way to promote my business.” 
As Taca was reaching the public through his campaign, he was able to educate potential clients. “Before all this, customers would call and it would be a 30-minute conversation about the basics of the program,” he says. “Now we don’t have to waste time with screening over the phone and answering questions. We took all the elements of social media and put information out to our customers before they called. It reduced calls in the beginning, but it increased the quality of calls we were receiving. So it was a much more efficient way of doing business.”
Taca says it’s essential to maximize social media if you’re an entrepreneur. “I can’t see surviving without it,” he says. “Traditional advertising and marketing is helpful, but a billboard doesn’t produce the same viral interest in a product like social media. Business owners should be prepared for a tsunami of interest if they maximize social media.”
Taca says it will be to your business’s detriment if you’re resistant to socializing, in-person or online, and to the technology involved with social media. “If you’re not social, you need to create an alter ego and put things out there,” he says. “And you have to be prepared for good and bad feedback and to defend what you do.”
If you prefer not to handle your own social media campaign, Taca suggests finding someone else in your organization or an outside expert to take that role in your business.