In a previous blog, I discussed how to get the most out social media. Afterwards, I received comments with a common thread:
“That’s all very well, but I get most of my business by word of mouth.”
“That’s all very well, but how do I get started?”
So, I thought I would take this opportunity to address these two points.
Word of mouth
Most intermediaries state that most of their business comes from personal recommendations. It is, therefore, easy to think that all other forms of promotion are unnecessary, especially social media.
Wrong.
There is much more to word of mouth than is realised. There is always a journey that prospective clients take, starting from the initial recommendation, which may take them via a website, Facebook and online forums, to form their own perception of a company prior to making an approach.
There is definitely a strong link between word of mouth, a dynamic website, presence on social media and incremental business.
It is all to do with the psychology of buying, which I shan’t go into here. Yes, word of mouth will always be a big business driver, but we all need to think bigger and consider the concept of ‘word of cybermouth’.
Getting started on Twitter
Social media and word of mouth are perfect bed partners, but how and where do you begin?
Well, for simplicity, I am going to discuss Twitter here, as it seems to be the area of social media that most people simply just don’t get – even those that use it.
Before you start using Twitter, you must make sure that you are doing so because it fits into your strategic goals; there must be a reason for using Twitter.
Try to think of the likes of Twitter as an extension of PR and as a way to deliver thought leadership. Through Twitter, intermediaries can demonstrate their expertise and differentiate themselves.
If you begin to use Twitter, don’t expect new clients to rush to your door after seeing a tweet. Social media is all about building awareness and creating an image, in the same way as other promotional activities, which have an indirect influence on new business generation; without it, business is lost.
Back to basics
If you believe Twitter is appropriate, then you need to get started following these tips:
– Set up your Twitter account
Go to twitter.com and click on Sign Up for your own account. You can choose to use your own name or company name, but bear in mind the restriction of the number of characters in your username and it will have to be something unique.
– Adjust your settings
Set your settings, such as time zone, location and whether or not you want your updates protected. By protecting your updates, they won’t appear in search engines.
You can also set up Twitter to follow everyone, but I don’t recommend that, so don’t tick that box.
– Create your profile
Now add a short description of you or your business, which will be seen by everyone. You only have 160 characters, so think carefully about this.
– Add a photo
You can use your logo or actual photo, with the latter perhaps being the more engaging route. You could use an existing photo or have some specific photographs taken with social media restrictions in mind.
– Create your own background
Try and avoid using a generic background. Instead add your own, even if is your logo. Or speak to a local creative agency to help you out.
– Find people to follow
When you ‘follow’ someone, you have the opportunity to see their updates. You can start by letting Twitter search your own address book for contacts that may be on Twitter or you can bypass this step if you prefer.
Think beyond clients. For example, follow local accountancy and solicitor firms, industry bodies, local journalists and publications like Mortgage Solutions.
– Keep an eye on your followers
Twitter is great, but also full of spammers. Unwanted followers can harm your reputation – you can block them by clicking on their image and then selecting the block option.
– Get tweeting
In the status area, you can now send messages. Don’t use it to ‘sell’. If you see interesting stories in the press, mention this along with the link to the story. If you do this, shorten the link using sites like bit.ly. Also, for ideas on what to tweet about, see what your contemporaries are doing.
There is a new breed of consumer, one that is growing up with social media. Intermediaries need to embrace social media and how word of mouth occurs online as well as in the pub.
So get tweeting and enhance your online presence.
Jeff Knight is managing director of Tonic Marketing
