Why Most Small Businesses Are Failing with Social Media & 5 Tips For Better Success

Over 600 million people in the world are on Facebook, including over 150 million Americans, or 1 in 2 adults. Twitter just topped 300 million accounts.

Small business owners in droves are trying to capitalize on the trends, but few are reaping the benefits. For most local business owners, the temptation is to use social networks to promote their businesses and to broadcast their messages.

But if you take off your marketing cap, and put on your customer cap, you’ll realize that consumers are already pummeled by marketing and advertising messages all day long. The secret, then, to social media for small business owners – is being human – being the sort of person at a cocktail party who listens attentively, tells great stories, shows interest in others, and is authentic and honest. The secret is to simply be likeable.

Here are 5 specific tips for small business owners to enjoy more success at social media:

1)Listen before you talk. Before your first tweet, search Twitter for people talking about your business, and for people talking about your competitors. Search using words that your prospective customers would say, too. For example, if you’re an accountant, use Twitter to search for people tweeting the words “need an accountant” in your town. You’ll be surprised how many people are already looking for you.

2)Don’t tell your customers to like you and follow you, tell them why and how. Everywhere you turn, you see “Like us on Facebook” and “Follow us on Twitter.” Huh? Why? How? Give your customers a reason to connect with you on social networks (what’s in it for them?) and then make it easy. Note the difference between these two calls to action: “Like my book’s page on Facebook” and “Get answers to all your social media questions at Facebook.com/LikeableBook.”

3)Ask questions. Wondering why nobody’s responding to your posts on Facebook? It’s probably because you’re not asking questions. Social media is about engagement and having a conversation, not about promoting. If a pizza place posts on Facebook, “Come on by, 2 pizzas for just $12,” nobody will comment, and nobody will show up. If that pizza place posts, “What’s your favorite topping?” people will comment online– and then be more likely to show up.

4)Share pictures and videos. People love photos. The biggest reason Facebook has gone from 0 to 600 ...