Now before you fly off the handle, let me preface this by saying that not all small businesses fail at social media. There are however many that seem bound and determined to do so. No matter how hard they think they try to succeed at integrating a social strategy into their business model it just seems to dissolve or even blow up in their faces. Let me set the stage for you: Steve X owns a motorcycle shop that specializes in designing and building custom cycles. Steve’s friend Joe has a shop that specializes in building show cars. One day Joe tells Steve that he just HAS to have
social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter et al for his motorcycle shop to make it to the next level.

Steve decides Joe is right so he goes out and creates profiles all over the place. He builds a Facebook page, a Twitter profile, gets hooked up on LinkedIn, and creates an account on Google+. He even starts a YouTube channel for his shop. Then things start to wander. Steve puts up posts every once in a while on Facebook and sends out tweets maybe every four or five days. He loads a video on YouTube but the next doesn’t come until a month later. We just won’t mention how neglected his LinkedIn and Google+ profiles become. Before you know it, Steve looks at his social networking accounts and decides that Joe must have been wrong. They don’t seem to have done anything for his shop at all.

And THIS folks is why there are many small businesses that fail at social media. Didn’t quite catch what happened? Let’s recap:

  • Steve immediately creates many social media profiles – he doesn’t do any research to see which ones might best suit his current business model and clientele
  • Steve’s posting to each network is extremely disjointed and nowhere near regular
  • Without attempting to determine where things might be going wrong he gives up altogether

Right there – did you see what happened? Steve forgot the PRIME RULE of social media – it’s all about being S O C I A L! Many clients/customers/friends, etc want to see that YOU are social. They will look at your Page, profile, etc as an extension of YOU, the small business owner. What happens in the non-digital world when you and a good friend don’t speak except very rarely and don’t work to keep up the friendship? You grow apart. The same thing happens in social media except at a faster pace. With the influx of information that people experience on social networks you have a reduced window for snagging their attention and holding it.

You have to be able to speak to your target audience in a social manner offering them info, tips, feel good items, etc that they will find valuable enough to keep up the relationship. Just like two friends who have nothing to say might stand there silent the same can happen for small business owners and their target audience.

What it all comes down to is whether you want to be one of those small businesses that fail at social media. Wouldn’t you rather be one that rocks it instead? Remember: Think socially, post socially optimized material, and for goodness sakes act socialBE social. Then you will find it much easier to succeed socially.