How To Really Make Social Media Work

The online business world is expecting a year of massive growth in social media, and if you haven't embraced it in your own business, or if you got a taster and gave up, now is the time to roll up your sleeves, apply some elbow grease and get moving.

We're seeing businesses continuing the move into social media as part of their marketing strategies, and we're also witnessing applications of the social graph in platforms like Google and Bing.

So, if you're wondering whether social media is right for your business...

The answer is "Yes".

If you're wondering what to do to get results that have either been evading you or that you've only dreamed about, here are a few ideas to get you ready and started.

Don't Short-change Yourself - Invest A Proper Amount Of Time

The biggest investment you will make into your social media efforts is TIME.

There is no easy button when it comes to social media. You have to put in the time to achieve the results you want.

What does exist however, is assistance. Assistance in the form of the "tall shoulders who've gone before". Learn from people who've been there, done that and experienced the same level of results you're seeking. If possible, model what they do.

You Must Create Your Goals if You're to Achieve Your Goals

As my mentor has said on a number of occasions, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". So, take on social media with a set of specific goals, a road-map and a set of plans for achieving your goals.

Is it more followers your seeking? More leads? Sales? Website visits? Downloads? Facebook Likes? Replies? Newsletter signups?

It doesn't matter what the goals are, if you don't plan for them up-front, you'll likely lose your way, lose your enthusiasm and find yourself not getting what you want out of social media. Worst still, you may possibly give up on it altogether and miss out on the huge benefits of using social media for business.

Sure, you'll probably find yourself adjusting goals along the way, and that's fine. But realise this, you need to start somewhere.

Create A Content Calendar – Plan Your Content In Advance

Set up a calendar and plan your content. It's this simple:

Decide on a theme for each month. Decide what type of content you will be posting. Come up with 10 topics that you'll be writing about. Then 10 more.

Will you be blogging, if so how many times per week? We've found regular blogging is more effective than frequent blogging.

How could you engage your audience? You could run a contest on your Facebook page. Run a poll or ask a question.

How about creating a video each week? Does your business have a particular marketing message that you may want to tie into?

In the end you want to create content that people will engage with and share with their friends. Most importantly, make it valuable. Teach your audience something.

Most people don't care all too much to be advertised to, so use the 80/20 rule. Share valuable content and engage your audience 80% of the time, and talk about yourself and you're products 20% of the time.

Visit the DIY Social Media for Business Review for how easy it can be to bring this all together.

Track And Measure Your Posts

If you use Google Analytics on your site, use the Google Analytics URL builder tool and create campaigns.

Track all the links going to your site from all the social networks you post on. Using this, you can test which social networks are working best for different purposes, the best time of day to post, and the type of content that resonates best with your audience.

Obviously you will be able to track ROI of your efforts here as well. If you consider that everything has some sort of value, whether it is a lead, a fan or follower, or an actual sale, you can attribute a dollar amount to almost any action on your website.

The best social media tool is You so make your time investment in social media pay for itself!