Why All Business Owners Should Be on Facebook

By: Mary Ellen Bost,

Owner Savvy Social Media

I have always heard that the best form of advertising for a business is "word of mouth." However true, nowadays "word of mouth" primarily takes place online and for the most part...it is occurring on Facebook. "Word of Mouth" can be great for your business...if it is positive. However, unhappy customers voice their opinions online at an alarming speed.

For this reason, if you own or run a business, if your livelihood is dependent upon the success or failure of your business- it is unacceptable and precarious for you to not be on Facebook.

Why? 

How many times have you seen an unhappy patron of a restaurant post on Facebook sharing their dissatisfaction with recent service?  

With a smartphone in everyone’s back pocket, someone can snap a picture of anything and share it with the world in an instant.  Seeing people LOVE to snap screen shots, once it is posted online, it’s forever.  Although you may delete it from the internet, it is not deleted from a person’s mind and/ or smart phone.

A few months ago, a patron at Juanita's Cantina here in Little Rock, posted a complaint on their Facebook page.  Unfortunately, the restaurant owner was not on Facebook nor did he have anything to do with the management of their Facebook page.  That responsibility was given to an employee who responded to this patron's complaint with a very rude and condescending remark.

Not long after this exchange took place, apparently Juanita's converted to a fan page.  I'm still unsure exactly what happened....but apparently it disappeared from ­­­the page.  All in the clear, right?  No one saw it.  Wrong.

Someone saw it, snapped a screen shot, and the rest is history.

Here is Kate's original post.  Note Juanita's response.  This is the post that "disappeared" but not before Luke was able to snap a screen shot of it.

Check out Juanita's next response below.  I bet this guy is super happy no one knew who he was! 

And the comments don't stop there.  The post went viral.  People were not happy and not afraid to voice their dismay for the entire world to see.  Their true feelings came out.  Anyone who has ever had a somewhat less than stellar experience there- made sure to post about it.

The first comment was made around noon on a Wednesday.  22 hours and hundreds of angry comments later...the owner of the business responds will an excellent yet belated message.

As you can see, Joe the owner had never even been on Facebook.  And who could blame him?  Facebook isn’t for everyone.  And a couple of years ago, that would have been acceptable-even typical- regardless of your type of business.  But nowadays with smartphones...people LIVE on Facebook.  It is obvious here that he should- and likely does now- have someone he trusts speaking to the public on behalf of his business.

But a simple personal Facebook account, periodic monitoring of his business' page (by him or a person in charge of marketing)...would have saved him hours of angry comments, horrible publicity, and possibly a loss in clientele.  

I believe in second chances (not for the idiot employee- he deserved to be fired on the spot!).  But I can tell that the owners of Juanitia's truly do care about their patrons, their reputation, their business, and their customer service, and that in my mind warrants a second chance.

Let this be a lesson to all- not being on Facebook when trying to manage a company- is NOT an option.  We will save the discussion about this employees behavior for a later conversation.  That deserves its' own five part series.  #Facepalm.  

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Identifying Your Marketing Strategy

By: Mary Ellen Bost

Owner, Savvy Social Media Marketing

As we move into 2013, the role of social media marketing has become an even more popular way to engage and communicate with current and potential customers.

Regardless of what particular marketing avenues you choose to conquer, before you head to battle, you need a plan of action. You have to determine your company's marketing strategy. And in order to do so, there are certain things a company MUST CLEARLY define about themselves, their customers and competitors. As it will be this information that you rely upon when determining your overall strategy. 

For those of you who already have a brand strategy- hopefully this post can give you a few ideas to make it stronger and more effective.

A little background: around the time I began my career in advertising, I hit the stage where all of my friends started getting engaged and getting married.  So, that meant throwing wedding showers, bachelorette parties and not too long after- baby showers.  

I was always (happily) in charge of creating all of the party invitations.  Looking back- I can definitely see how creating all of those invitations may have influenced the ways I help clients identify their target audiences, the best advertising mediums to reach those customers as well as the types of messages that would resonate best with customers.

Everyone knows that when you are making party invitations- you have to provide the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and the How.  Answer those questions and you have given each invitee all of the information they need to decide if the want to attend, where and when it is, etc etc..

Asking and answering those same questions in relation to your business, can also help you create your marketing campaign.  How?  I will explain below. 

The "Who, What, When, Where, Why, & How" of Marketing 

1. WHO?
WHO are the people who need to know about your business?  WHO is your target audience?  
If your phone were to ring right now- ideally, who would it be?  Describe them.  By answering the question above, you are clearly identifying individuals who, if become customers- will increase your bottom line. This obviously also applies to former, new, current &prospective customers. Basically, your target audience and demographics.

2. WHAT?

WHAT message do you want to send to them?  WHAT do you need them to know about your business?  WHAT products or services do you have?

And furthermore,  WHAT do your CUSTOMERS WANT? 

3. WHEN?

WHEN is your busiest season?  Your slowest?  What times of the year do you need to focus on attracting new customers.  Identifying these factors on your calendar.  It will help you plan your marketing budget and schedule.

4. WHY?
Why should a customer choose to do business WITH YOU over your competitors? This is not something that you have to say in any advertisements…but you need to know how and why you are better than your competitors. Period. And if you are lagging behind them- what can you do in-house to change that?

5. WHERE?
WHERE are they advertising and reaching their customers? WHERE are they located? Would doing business with you be more convenient? Or Vice Versa?

6. HOW?
HOW are they advertising? How is their business? How are they treating customers? KNOW your competition. I guarantee they know you and are capitalizing on your shortcomings.

It is crucial to know how you measure up to the people who are competing for the same customers. If you are not doing this, you are doing a major disservice to yourself and to your customers.

Answering these questions won’t create a marketing strategy for you out of thin air. But it will however, help you identify your goals and determine what information you need to focus on sending out to the public.

Cheers!