The Social Media Optimization Process for Small Businesses

A popular saying goes “Excess of everything is bad” and trust me, social media is no exception to that rule. If you overdo it, it’s actually far worse than not doing it at all. More so, if you are a small business, the implications of an overdose or too little of social media can be equally catastrophic. Therefore, there’s a strong need for social media optimization, especially for small businesses.

So, how does a small business practice social media optimization and what are its benefits? Let’s walk through the details.

What is Social Media Optimization?

As the name itself suggests, social media optimization is the process of adopting the right mix and match of social media for your small business. The first and foremost challenge for a small business is to change their mindset and be flexible towards embracing social media. To change is difficult, but not to change is fatal. Most small business owners are worried that they just don’t have the required resources – time as well as staff to venture into social media.

Be it using a Facebook page or a Twitter feed to promote your business or using LinkedIn in order to build professional contacts, there is no “One size fits all” approach when it comes to social media optimization.

Right Strategy + Do your homework + Right Execution

While social media adoption is no rocket science, it’s not child’s play either. A small business needs to have a well-planned strategy on how to use social media for its needs. The stakes are high as a small business usually has no margin for error. You need to do your homework before you decide to jump on to the social media bandwagon.

You need to be well aware of how your competitors are making the most out of social media and be prepared to challenge them head-on. It’s also must to have a Plan-B in place should your original plan backfire.

What works for your business?

Social media offers a wide gamut of services – be it blogs, micro-blogging networks like Twitter, pure social networks such as Facebook & Myspace, professional networks such as LinkedIn, social bookmarking services such as Digg & Delicious, blogs and wikis and a plethora of other tools. What works perfectly for some other small business may be a perfect recipe for disaster in your case and vice-versa, so it’s important to take educated decisions.

If you build sophisticated products with explicit user training needs, then publishing videos on a dedicated YouTube channel is a great idea. However, if you are a retail store planning to launch a 50% promotion off on select products, Twitter and Facebook might be better-suited options in order to spread the word.

Many businesses overdo it because its’ FREE!

All good things in this world are free and so is social media. Unfortunate as it is, most people have a tendency to exploit the ‘free’ aspect to its limits. Social media offers immense power to your business and that too without any substantial costs; therefore it’s hardly surprising that many businesses goof-up by being pushy and overselling things using social media.

My advice, don’t forget that “A pat on the back is not too far from a kick on the butt, so be judicious in your social media implementation” Good luck!

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