Social Media in Small Business // The Double-Edged Sword

The most powerful medium in the world doesn't come without it's risks. Here's some advice to avoid falling on your sword.

The biggest difference in building a small business today versus 50 years ago starts with the internet feeding into our constant need to interact, feel heard, and online shop (or maybe that’s just me). Enter the double-edged sword, building and destroying roads to success one post at a time.

The danger of the double-edged sword starts with typos and grammar. I know we didn’t all graduate from Harvard University with a doctorate in English studies but there should be no excuse. You can’t even misspell something on purpose anymore since spell check is in your text messages and grammar check is in your word documents. And my goodness, do not get me started on they’re, their, and there. It is called Google.com. Look it up. Maybe you’ve heard of it? And sure some people call me a grammar-queen because I twitch when I see spelling and grammar errors, but don’t you? My point is it’s critically important and a quick proofread will go a long way.

Another danger is content and overposting. When a business account is run like your personal account or you overpost, it can lead to unlikes and unfollows. Unfollows are much worse because people still “like” your business but you are no longer receiving interactions from them since they no longer see your posts on their feed. The best way to know when to post on platforms is by searching social media post times for that day and how often you should post. The best rule of thumb is to post before and after lunch and only once a day. Three words: quality trumps quantity.

That brings me to Facebook’s latest algorithm update. Our dear friend Mark Zuckerburg must have been tired of everyone asking for a dislike or ‘thumbs down’ button for posts because the latest update focuses on “ bringing people together ” with positive experiences. His brainiacs have created a formula that brings posts that should receive positive feedback and interaction from friends and family to the top of the feed followed by posts from Businesses and Pages.

That being said, yes interactions and likes may go down for businesses but not if your posts are designed with the consumer and Facebook in mind (but mostly Facebook). Get your users to be interactive by publishing a poll, asking a simple question or start a friendly debate. Facebook has started marking the “Comment ‘YES’ if…” posts as spam. Therefore, DON’T DO IT. What your consumers and potential consumers really like to see are posts that are eye-catching and relatable yet informative. And, don’t forget the ~positive vibes~.

The largest danger with content comes from posting about social and/or political issues. This is where people get up in arms and may even boycott your business. According to a study by Sprout Social when a business posts about social or political issues, a consumer will react whether they agree or not.

The study found that 62% of consumers will purchase less from the brand, 38% will boycott the brand, 47% will warn family and friends about the brand, and 24% of consumers will publicly criticize the brand. Here’s the gist: if the topic is not a service you offer or part of the business entity, don’t post about it. No one needs that kind of negativity in their life but if you really need to post an opinion, go to your personal page.

How can social media help build your small business empire? Social media platforms have given you countless ways to market your brand. Since our timeline is the victim of algorithms, it can be difficult to stay in the game but the stories on social media have stayed in chronological order. Utilize this to stay on the forefront of your consumers' minds and show them your goods! Reminder: goods is referring to your creations, specials, sales, new offerings, parties, etc and not your *um* figure. If you are posting videos, they need to be posted in real-time and shouldn’t be but a few seconds long.

You’re a diner: Post pictures of your creations & daily specials to your story
You’re a storefront: Post pictures of your new items and sale items to your story
You are anyone with a sale or party: Post it to your story!
Everyone: Post behind the scenes to your story!

And If you are wanting to get chatty, go Live. Going Live has been proven to boost interactions with your followers which is what we want and need in order to stay in the good graces of the algorithm gods.

Social media platforms have also given you numerous ways to communicate with your consumers -- current and potential. The biggest challenge is grabbing someone's attention. You can do this by posting quizzes, reposting reviews, posting sales and events, and even posting photos of your offerings. They always say pictures are worth 1,000 words. It has been proven that if a post is getting comments, platforms start pushing it more.

Contrary to popular belief, you need to respond to all reviews. Yes, even the bad ones. How you respond sets the tone for how much you care about your consumers and future consumers. Great responses to bad reviews have been known to change the consumer's views and lead to them offering companies a second chance. Fact about me: before I buy from a new store, I read the bad and good reviews - in that order - searching for trends, how recent the reviews were posted, and if the brand responded to the bad reviews. They always say that great news spreads fast but bad news spreads like a California wildfire. On the opposite end, make sure to thank your happy clients! No one wants to promote a brand that doesn’t appreciate their consumers because the consumer is a walking billboard. Since your consumers are walking billboards, reward them for tagging you in their posts. You can do this by reposting their posts, giving them a shoutout, or even offering a discount code for everyone they refer!

Tip: if you need help responding to bad reviews, check out this walkthrough from tinuiti .

While it may sound a bit dramatic, the fact of the matter is that social media can make or break your business. So as a reminder, keep your posts short, post only a handful of times a week, get your fans to interact, and make sure to spell check, grammar check, and content check before a post goes out. Or give us a call and we'll lend a helping hand.

ALEX HUGHES

Campaign Specialist; Little Rock, AR

Filled with sarcasm and fueled by coffee

ALEX HUGHES

Campaign Specialist; Little Rock, AR

Filled with sarcasm and fueled by coffee.

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