Businesses, Taking the Initiative in Social Media? Read this.

I read an interesting article the other day. The writers Kaplan Andreas and Haenlein Michael in Users of the world, unite!; introduced advice for businesses when considering involving the company in social media. The advice boils down to ten points.

5 points about using social media

1. Select target social media. Choose your social media platform carefully. Think who is your target group and in what social media can you reach that target group most effectively.
2. Pick or Create. Go with the most suitable existing social media or create your own. If an existing platform allows you to engage rather well in social media, why bother spending big bucks on a new platform. If no such platform exists, it might be wise to start studying and building you own social hub.
3. Trans-social-media. If you engage in social media using multiple platforms make sure that your message is aligned between them. A goal of social media that should be kept in mind is resolution of ambiguity in communication. 
4. Integrate social media with media plan. Your company may have plans for different medias (ex. TV commercials, magazines, radio). Add social media to the list and see how the message can be delivered on social media platforms.
5. Accessible. The social media platforms used by the business should be accessible to all even the employees.

5 points about being social

1. Active. Keep your content fresh! Social media is not a stale badly designed static webpage where you put your company name and address. Engage with your customers on discussions relating to your business. 
2. Be interesting. Provide content that is related and might interest your customers. First you need to find out what your customers want to hear, what they would like to talk about and what they are interested in. Then provide content that fits those requirements
3. Be Humble. Before entering a social media dig into the platform. Learn how to use it, learn the history and most importantly learn the rules. Don't barge into others' territory and shout out that "I own this place".
4. Unprofessional. Go into the space being normal. Share ideas, thoughts that customers can relate to. This means social media shouldn't be a place where you post last quarters earnings, unless the social media is specifically designed for financial freaks.
5. Be honest. Don't try to change what others have written. Forging information can have devastating impact on customers perception of the firm.

There you have it. 10 tips that the article provides. These tips are worthwhile for businesses. They should be applied to all social media initiatives.