In 2011 it will not be enough to just maintain a flow of content on your social media pages if it is not good content. Social media users have come to appreciate quality content, and now they have new platforms that will aid in their pursuit of good content. For example, Cadmus is trying to change the way you view your Twitter streams by helping you determine what content is most relevant to you based upon your Twitter usage patterns. With new ways to filter out content that social media users don’t find relevant or interesting to themselves, businesses and other content creators will need to work harder than ever in order to simply have their content consumed by their own followers.

Below are five tips to help you streamline your social media strategy:

Know Your Voice

Your social media content should sound like your company. If one of your company’s mantras is working with people in a casual environment, you probably shouldn’t use five syllable words and drawn out sentences in your Facebook status updates. Create that personable, less formal atmosphere without becoming too casual that some of your followers might mistake your post from a post made by some guy they went to high school with.

After you’ve found your voice, preserve it by having the same person in your company write all of the content. Don’t let your Facebook or Twitter pages become a free for all in which anyone in the company posts content when they just so happen to be on the website. Your followers will be able to tell when your content is inconsistent and it will cloud their perception of your company.

Know Your Audience

People follow you because they like you and your company offers them something. Don’t let your followers down by not understanding what it is that makes your company appeal to people. Once you clearly identify what you bring to the table that is different than every other company, deliver content that is in line with that uniqueness.

Time Your Content

Know when it’s an appropriate time to say what, and plan out what content you’re going to create and when you’re going to post it. There have been many a gaffe with ill-timed Facebook and Twitter posts – don’t be one of those.

Also, make sure to utilize holidays, seasons, and any trends within your industry when timing your content.

Problem Solve

Be a problem solver. Your followers are going to ask for your feedback on a daily basis, and when you are able to help them in a timely manner you will be building their trust in your company. Make sure your social media team is equipped to be problem solvers by properly sharing the ins and outs of your business with them. Never underestimate the benefits you’ll reap by taking the time to respond to your followers.

Be Real

Social media content is intrinsically social. Successful content isn’t fake or deceptive, and it doesn’t over promise and under deliver. Your followers will be able to tell when you’re being real and honest, or if you are being fake and lying to them. Good content has a personality that reflects the company, which is why we follow the brands and companies we do follow.

Content

If content wasn’t already big enough for you in 2010, prepare for it to get even bigger. With the proliferation of smart phones, tablets, and e-readers, companies are staying busy providing content for users to consume at an alarming rate. Just the creation of new content for its consumers is going to be enough to keep a business busy in 2011 and unemployed writers might just become an anomaly.

People spend so much time reading articles, downloading and listening to music, reading books, Facebook and Twitter that the creation of content alone won’t be as important as the creation of meaningful content that your followers and consumers will enjoy. Which is why there are now platforms such as Cadmus which is trying to change the way you view your Twitter streams by helping you determine what content is most relevant to you based upon your Twitter usage patterns. And since people will be using these content filters, look for more media going viral, and going viral as almost a must do of marketers. For a good idea of what this could be like, check out this blog post we wrote on the Old Spice Guy’s viral success.

Mobile

Everything is going mobile! By the end of 2011 over 51% of mobile phones will be smart phones. Now, pretty much anything you can do on your computer you can do on your phone, including mobile buying. Say goodbye to long lines at your neighborhood Starbucks because Starbucks is proving to be an early adopter of mobile buying as they currently are developing an application in which customers can pay for their coffee on their phone and then swing by the store’s counter and grab their coffee without having to wait and pay for it. So once Starbucks rolls their mobile buying program out, start looking for others to do the same. Waiting in lines may soon become a thing of the past. Yippee!

Also look for new text-based campaigns with businesses offering consumers a new way of receiving information and discounts. The business world is taking this already-present strategy from the political field in which politicians have been sending text messages to their supporters to get out the vote and stay informed.

Niche Location Based Services

Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook Places went from non-existent or next to non-existent to well known location based applications in 2010, even if there is still a large segment of the population that does not use them yet. These platforms allow users to ‘check in’ to their current location and then post their locations to their social media sites. Businesses have also caught on and started offering discounts to users who check in to their location. In 2011, not only are more users going to gravitate towards these three already established location based services as the discounts users get for checking in will become the old school equivalent of the Sunday newspaper coupon, but new niche location based services will start coming out of the woodwork, marketing to specific groups of people.

Social Commerce

If you hadn’t heard of Groupon in 2010 you had to be living in a cave. Groupon is a group buying website in which consumers are offered daily deals in the cities in which they subscribe. Since so many people are buying the same deal that day businesses can afford to deeply discount the service. In fact, Groupon was so successful in 2010 that Google attempted to buy Groupon for $6 billion. Groupon refused the offer and then promptly did nearly $1 billion in business the following month. New group buying websites are following Groupon’s business model already, but in 2011 look for many more such websites to continue to grow.

Facebook commerce is also expected to take off. Now, businesses who don’t offer e-commerce from their own website will be able to sell their services directly on Facebook through Facebook’s new commerce features. In fact, Facebook’s commerce features will likely prove to be so widespread that some companies might only exist and do all of their business on Facebook. With the advent of Facebook’s commerce features, users will also be able to easily share their purchases and future purchases with their friends directly on Facebook, making room for another sphere of independent reviews of products, services, and businesses.

Q & A Sites

If you’re unsure of what exactly a question and answer website is, don’t worry, you’re probably not the only one who is wondering as many people have yet to discover them, but they will in 2011. Q&A websites, such as Quora and JustAnswer, aim to create communities of individuals who know a whole lot about different topics, and may even consider themselves experts in a field. Like Twitter, people will follow certain topics of their interest and then ask or answer questions within those topics. Quora’s description of itself on its website is, “A continually improving collection of questions and answers, created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it.” Basically, Q&A websites are a Twitter or a Facebook mixed into Wikipedia and have the potential to become the next big thing in social networking websites.

The whole point of using social media is to engage users and future users of your business. It’s not enough to set up a Facebook page and use Facebook ads to get people to like your page if that is the extent to how you are going to engage your customer base. When it come to Facebook fans, quality is more important than quantity.

Say your business has 500 ‘likes’ but only 50 people who are active users on a weekly basis. Wouldn’t 100 ‘likes’ with 50 active users be more valuable to your business since it took less money, time and energy to grow that base? We here at Socialmash focus on just that quality. Several of the Facebook pages we manage often achieve larger engagement amongst our 2,000 fans vs. Facebook pages of brands that have amassed over 100,000 fans.

So how do you engage your fan base and continue to grow your engaged fan numbers? Here are three strategies to engage your fans:

Start Conversations

Start conversations with your fans. If you own a restaurant ask fans for new dish suggestions based upon a favorite family recipe, or to suggest their favorite bottle of wine. Or if you own a clothing store ask your fans what their favorite trend is this season. The point is to get people talking on your page because that attracts more fans and will engage more people (and often times this is where you’ll get your greatest feedback). If you talk they will join in.

The conversations you start don’t even have to be directly related to your business, and often times they tend to be what really gets people talking. A heartfelt thank you to service members on Memorial Day is one conversation that many will feel compelled to join in on.

Content

Content that often times gets the biggest responses on Facebook are videos and photos. A single photo alone can get an infinite number of ‘likes’ and comments with such a small amount of effort. Even making a simple video takes minimal effort with the ability to record it from your computer and post it directly to Facebook. But what should you post? Pretty much anything related to your business you can post to Facebook. Take screen shots of your updated website, post links to new blog posts, a photo of a new menu or a new sign outside your business, or a mockup of an ad you’re running in the newspaper or online. If you need help starting a conversation on your page, posting new content is a great way to do it.

Be Creative

People want a reason to come back to your Facebook page, and a great way of doing that is coming up with creative incentives. Give people a percentage off their bill or something complementary for checking into your business on Facebook. Or give them a say by asking them to review your products or by voting for your business for a local award.

And remember to utilize external events to your advantage. For the 2010 NFL Draft the Dallas Cowboys received a huge response from their Facebook fans when they asked their fans who they would like the Cowboys to draft. Adapt this by asking your fans what teams they like in the playoffs and then to come in and have a discounted pint or glass of wine when they play. Or ask which designers’ collection your fans liked best from Fashion Week and message them a coupon for participating in the discussion.

Remember to engage your fans and aim to attract engaged fans rather than just any fan for sheer bragging rights.

Networks like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Foursquare allow you to reach hundred and even thousands of people online. But unless your business is exclusively online you still want them to walk through your business’ door and purchase your products and services.

It’s a problem a lot of businesses have. Most have a “if I build it they will come” mentality when setting up a Facebook or Twitter profile. Yes, a few people may come across your profile in their internet purousing, but the majority will not. You must tell them and lead them to these profiles through offline marketing strategies.

So, how do you do that?

Create an Offline Social Media Strategy

One of the most important things to consider when developing an effective social media strategy is to understand that social media is more than just maintaining your Facebook Page and tweeting a few times a day. An effective Social Media Marketing campaign converts followers and fans into customers.

Concrete, on-the-ground results are necessary for any social media campaign to be a success. Otherwise, how else will you know that your efforts are paying off and will they be worth it to your bottom line?

Online social media activities must tie in with your offline activities. It is amazing that so many businesses are participating in social media and yet they haven’t seemed to convey this information to their staff (or their owners!). Have you ever mentioned to a business owner, or a staff member, that you’ve ‘seen them on Twitter’ or Facebook only to have them return your comment with a blank stare or worse, a look of fear of not knowing what in the world you’re talking about?

Don’t be that business!

Inform your staff (or your owner!) of all your online activities. Train them to engage with customers about your social media activities, especially with those customers who mention social media specifically.

For example, a restaurant might train servers to let customers know the restaurant is on Twitter and offer a free dessert or 5% off the bill if a customer writes their Twitter handle on the bill or follows them.

Make it someone’s responsibility to actually USE this information by connecting with customers online in a timely fashion, thanking them for visiting the business and incenting them to visit again or share the experience with their networks. With a little creativity, this strategy can be adapted to practically any business. And all it’ll cost you is some co-ordination between your online presence and your offline staff (and a little swag for good measure!).

Create an Offline Offer for an Online Activity

People like special offers. It’s a great way to build buzz, followers and fans, and convert the online crowd into offline customers. It just takes a little incentive.

In exchange for your online followers mentioning your business online, offer them a discount or even a freebie on one of your products if they visit your store to pick it up.

Be creative! Offer an additional discount if they bring a friend. Or offer a daliy discount to anyone who visits your store and provides you with one of their social media handles (see ‘train staff’ above!). The Camarillo Cold Stone Creamery’s Twitter is a good example of this.
A good strategy is to set your offers to run during your down-time. Days when you know business may be slow. That way you’ll be getting the most bang for your promotional buck!

Make sure to thank all your customers, publicly and online, who participate in your offers. This will increase the likelihood that they’ll share their positive experiences of your business with their online networks.

Host a special offline event!

Perhaps host a special event for all your twitter or Facebook followers. Exclusively for them. Entice them with a discount or a fun creative glimpse behind the scenes. Sometimes exclusivity is a good thing. We trust everyone’s seen The Social Network, eh?

Online or Offline, Social Media must always be ‘SOCIAL’

Remember that every effective social media strategy integrates online activities with offline activities. And the common thread is ‘social’. Interact with your customers, engage with your audience and you’ll see happy customers who are eager to rave about your business both online and offline!

The study also concluded that one in five small businesses are taking steps of integrating social media into their business processes – Facebook and LinkedIn were the most popular sites. In fact, 45% of surveyed respondents even believe their social media initiatives will pay off financially in 12 months or less.

Small business owners who are using social media are primarily engaging in social media through company pages (75%) and status updates (69%) on Facebook or LinkedIn. While just 16% of respondents are usingTwitter as a customer service channel. THe primary motivating factor of adoption has been the utilization of these services on the lead generation front. So while half of surveyed respondents found the time it takes to use social media sites more daunting than expected, 61% are still putting in the hours and making active efforts to identify new customers.

So, Why isn’t my Facebook Following Growing?

So, you’re frustrated. “Why isn’t my Facebook page taking off?” you ask yourself. Well, there may be several reasons why your Facebook strategy isn’t taking off as you had imagined. Take a look at these few likelihoods and see if anything strikes you:

1. You update your page too often or too little. There’s no exact science as to when or how often to post status updates for your Facebook page. Your fans want to stay connected to your brand but don’t want to be bombarded with spammy updates. If you update too little you’ll lose the connection. Preferably update no more than once a day.
2. Your messaging is too promotional. Your followers don’t want to be sold to or bombarded with marketing messages. Don’t be “sales-y.” The last thing they want is to opt in to another marketing message from a brand that they trust and enjoy. Keep the promotions to a minimum and try to provide meaningful and useful content to your followers.
3. You don’t offer value to your followers. Also related to messaging is the possible lack of value propositions. Set up a clear idea of how you will use each social site and what type of value you’ll be providing. Then, communicate it clearly. Most people follow brands on social sites to get deals and discounts. Make sure you understand your consumers’ motivations for following you and respond accordingly.
4. You aren’t promoting your social profiles enough. “If you build it, they will come.” You need to get the word out that you’re using certain social platforms. While some dedicated fans may find you via search or by perusing the web, others need a bit of encouragement. Utilize your website, businessplace, window decals, flyers and even business cards to get the word out.
5. Your need to interact more. Social media is, well, meant to be social. If you aren’t responding to questions or engaging with your followers, chances are they think you’re just a blank-faced marketer or an automated feed updating your company’s social sites. Give your social profiles a face by engaging with the community. Social media is meant to be a dialog, not a monolog.
6. Brand it. A landing page is essential in making that first impression. Tell fans immediately what you’re all about, drive them to ‘Like’ your page and take some sort of secondary action, whether it be to post a comment or click on through to your website. You must deliver a uniform message and brand design. Keep it consistant.
7. One consistent voice. Keep a consistent personality and voice to your brand. Don’t be schizophrenic in your message and appeal. Assign one person to manage your Facebook account. Don’t let your online brand be a free-for-all for your employees, your nephew, or your kids.
8. Be personable. Give your brand personality and spunk. Give fans a behind the scenes look at your business, show them things that they normally wouldn’t see or have access to as a regular customer. You want to make them feel special, included, and unique. Deliver them content that they couldn’t find anywhere else.
9. Encourage Sharing. Encourage people to share your content with their friends and family. This is how things online go viral. One person finds something interesting enough that they want to leverage its “awesome-ness” in sharing it with their friends.
10. Have Fun & be loose. Don’t be the deadbeat. Be fun, outgoing and try putting a positive spin to things. Don’t limit peoples excitement and don’t try to be the buzz kill to their good time. Imagine yourself at a party. You’re the MC and you’re pumping up the crowd, driving enthusiasm, and encouraging their contribution.

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on Camarillo

In our second episode, we meet with Brian Fry of Zzyzx Cafe, Talk about Bing’s “Social Search”, our giveaway contest, What is Groupon?, and finally new Twitter information! Very excite!

Direct from the Mash Bar:

zzyzx on Facebook, zzyzx cafe’s website
5 Big Social Media Questions from Small Business Owners

In our first episode ever, we talk about our awesome radio appearance on 2 Moms and a Mic, a recent Facebook announcement, our Facebook giveaway contest, and why your girlfriend likes in on the kitchen counter!

Direct from the Mash Bar:

2 Moms and a Mic
Facebook Groups Article