What are some key don'ts for SMBs regarding social media?

+1 Rob & Joseph ...

-DON'T Jump in without context. Start first by listening: it'll help you find out what folks are interested in, learn how to engage in a lightweight way and help you figure out which channels matter most
-DON'T Post info/content that is out of context.Engage in the conversations that are relevant - share ideas, content, tips and opinions ...
-DON'T Spam. Try not to pitch ... or if you cannot resist, soft pitch when accompanied by good info - and always disclose your affiliation with a company
-DON'T Just watch. Participate. Start creating content of interest. A great way to start if you don't have blog or other content ideas is to deconstruct your top 10 FAQs as topics that your audience is likely to be interested in ...
-DON'T Start then give up. Tweet, blog, share, interact ... it will take time to build a community (just like making friends in a new town).
-DON'T Just do it because. Measure your activity - use analytics (google at very least) to measure how much traffic is coming to your site (if you link back), how many followers / comments / etc that you have ... ideally, you are growing these metrics and eventually you can map them to specific business goals / activities

Here are a few articles that might be helpful with some more 'what not to do' for specific channels like FaceBook, etc:
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6898/The-9-Worst-Ways-to-Use-Face...
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/5650/How-Not-to-Launch-Your-Compa...

Good luck!

Great discussion! Another way of looking at the new and ever-changing tools and concepts in social media - I am not sure who first put this analogy out but I use it often -

If you lived in a smaller town and suddenly made a move to New York City - where would you go first, and what would you do? You would probably buy a map, and you would think about what it is that you need to do and then go out and find those services. If you liked the arts you might check out museums before someone else moving to New York City who loves sports.

Whatever you did, you would likely take small steps - not try to see everything in a weekend. Social media is like that.

Kirsten listed some great "don'ts" - I echo them. The difference for me over some other folks is that I believe there is nothing wrong with "thinking" about sales - professional, consultative selling is very relationship based. The social media tools we are working with now are, well - just tools. This is not a new way of communicating - we are still working on one relationship at a time.

Great answers so far. Another five to contribute to the conversation:

1. Don't talk before you listen. Just as in a real conversation, people who barrel into the stream of chatter without bothering to hear what folks are talking about are considered rude and are generally ignored (or openly shunned).

2. Don't say anything unless you've got something to say. Posting for the sake of being heard is the quickest way to get ignored.

3. Don't expect people to respond to everything you say. Sometimes people just listen.

4. Don't spend too much time doing it. SMBs have limited budgets (time) and you need to make sure you have your entire sales process set up and well functioning before you can go deep into social.

5. Don't spend too little time doing it. If people are talking to/about you and you're not listening, you could find your company could be on the receiving end of some frustrated comments.

Do, engage in personalized dialogue. Social business is a great opportunity to focus on specific interests.

Do, create sub-communities. Bucket your social audience into special interest groups and share relevant information.

Do, follow up to direct questions or messages.

Do, weave your social business activities with your CRM activities - Social CRM.

Do, connect your analytics to all communications activities: website, email, social business and make sure the analytics are integrated so you get the whole picture of what is going on with your communications channels.

Do, continue to use traditional marketing channels to augment your marketing program. Yes, social business is hot right now - but, we do not want to ignore some of the more traditional channels of marketing like - trade shows, print advertising, and direct mail.

When you think social media, think content.

When you think content, think purely about what your customers care about. Not just related to what you sell, but the other priorities, challenges, obstacles and objectives they have in their lives and/or jobs.

Don't rush into social media just because it's fast and easy. Make sure you have something valuable to say, that your customers care about.

Excellent question! My recent article titled, "Top 10 Social Media Pitfalls Businesses Must Avoid" lends itself perfectly to this topic. Below is our top-10 list. The full article is available on our blog (see below). I welcome your feedback.

1. Failure to properly plan.
2. Avoid spreading yourself too thin.
3. Don’t think of social media as a quick-fix.
4. Don’t think that just because you’ve built it, they will come.
5. Don’t just follow the followers.
6. Don’t make blatant sales pitches.
7. Don’t treat social media as a one way street.
8. Don’t assign the responsibility of managing your social media strategy to an intern
9. Don’t treat social media as an island.
10. Don’t delay the launch of your social media strategy.

Read the full article: http://www.aismedia.com/press/10-killer-social-media-pitfalls-businesses-must...

http://www.aismedia.com

Don't go in without a plan
Don't waste time & resources using tools that don't reach your audience
Don't get persuaded to use social media without first understanding what it is and how to use it
Don't jump in without spending some time 'listening' first
Don't assume that your intern will know how to use it
Don't stay away for fear that your customers may say something negative about you
Don't hire someone to help you out with your plan simply because they have 'social media guru' in their title
Don't start without understanding what you're looking to achieve
Don't look at social media as a stand-alone activity. It should work in tandem with your other communication activities to help you achieve your plan.
Don't sell, sell sell.
Don't create communities only to ignore comments and questions from your community members.
Don't bite off more than you can chew.
Don't create great activations then forget to measure how you're performing.
Don't think you have to do it all (there are ghost bloggers, strategic consultants, social media web designers, etc that can help you).
Don't assume it will be free (see last note).
Don't ignore the people within your organization who have a passion for social media - they can be a great addition to your team.
Don't forget policies & procedures...even if your business is not actively using social media, your employees probably are.
Don't forget that focus & great content will help you stand out from the sea of competitors.
Don't forget that information you share on Facebook is not indexable by Google and if Facebook goes away, you'll never see it again.
Don't believe that if you're not a great writer you can't author a blog.
Don't be afraid to experiment.
Don't be afraid to learn from negative feedback.

And even if the above has scared you away...at the very least every business should be tracking what people are saying about them and their competitors:
Don't underestimate the value of knowing what people are saying about you right now.

Lara McCulloch-Carter
President, READY2SPARK
www.ready2spark.com

The most important concept to consider with social media, and the pillar to successful engagement, is that you recognize that regardless of its ability to reach millions of people, it's not a broadcasting channel – it's a social space. As such, it has it's own established norms of behavior.

Imagine you turn on the television and a man dressed as a giant mouse is shouting at you to buy tickets to his theme park - you might not be surprised by this. You might even consider taking the family for a day out. Now imagine if you're at a friend's house for dinner and one of the guests arrives dressed in full mouse outfit and marches around the room shouting at everyone to buy tickets to his theme park:

"Is everyone enjoying the risotto?"

"19 dollars and 95 cents! Yes, for just 19 dollars and 95 cents a ticket, you too could take your family on an unforgettable trip of a lifetime..."

“Would anyone like any more wine?”

“...scale the magic mountain, pay a visit to Wally the whale...”

Obviously, it's ridiculous. Yet, that's what many SMBs are doing – metaphorically speaking, I'd hope - when they take a broadcasting approach into a social environment. Just cutting and pasting offers or links into comments boxes, personal profiles, people's Twitter feeds; it's not adding value to the customer's conversation. It's more likely to turn them off of your company altogether.

"What you should do:
• leave the mouse ears at the door,
• join the conversation at regular intervals (not all of the time and not just talking about yourself),
• respond to questions, without issuing instructions (advice should be driven by what the customer wants to know, not what you want to give).

...and then when the topic of where to take the kids for their holidays comes up: you can suggest a certain theme park and the excellent offer it currently has on."

I have to echo what Rob said. You have to realize in the "social: world it is not about you and what you want. It is a community and you have to be accepted and earn trust before you can ask. When you do ask ask carefully and once. The community hates hard sales and spammers. So if you understand this then it can work well if you do not then it is a waste of time money and effort.
I wish you well in what ever you decide.

Don't just reply to others. Post new content everyday. You are an expert.

Don't commit to something that is going to take more time or skills than you have. For example, a blog requires frequent updating with content that people will want to read or look at. If you set something up and then don't keep it fresh, it can actually work against you by making people wonder how committed you are to your customers and business.

Don't be a spammer, even an unintentional one. Lots of businesses collect customer email addresses and then use them badly, by sending them news they can't use, driving them to a web page that hasn't changed in ages, or asking them for things, like taking a survey or giving you feedback, without giving them anything, like a product discount or entry in a drawing they could conceivably win. Email marketing should be full of interesting, useful content and/or chock a block with special offers and discounts.

Understand how things work and what they are good for before you use them. Facebook is not a web page and Twitter is not email, but many people approach them as if they were.

Don't ask for public feedback unless you are pretty sure it will be positive. The last thing you want to do is give a disgruntled customer a public place to vent.

Remember, the web is forever. Public tweets, Facebook pages, blogs and comments on blogs, are all going to get seen eventually by a search engine and be accessible to anyone Googling your business. Don't state facts that can't be verified, opinions you might want to take back, or special offers that aren't so special. They will just make you look bad, eventually.

Don’t forget social media is a powerful marketing channel.

From a practical standpoint social media is still a marketing channel and the numbers also reflect this. In a recent study the top motivating factor for consumers “Liking” a company, brand or association on Facebook is to receive discounts and promotions. Therefore I encourage SMB’s to leverage social media to promote there company and products. Ultimately the user is in control and they will let you know when enough is enough, but if you are offering a value they will keep coming back. Of course this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t also create dialog with your audience.

So far, the answers have been spot on. Here are a few more points:

1. Your website should be your main point of focus and should be the place where you want your customers to ultimately visit. Social media sites should be outposts. So your FaceBook page, for example, should not substitute for your website.

2. Social media allows people to network. Use it as a way to listen to the chatter. You'll be surprised at how much you can learn and what pertinent information you can pick up.

3. They also offer you a unique opportunity to post content to show yourself as an expert. Then people want to follow you because your content is useful, and they begin to reference you in their posts.

Disregard the hype. Don't do it just because everyone else is. Determine a strategy. See if it's working for you as well as other marketing methods. Participate in the right social sites. Choose carefully among the "royal three" (Facebook, LInkedIn and Twitter--which is a microblog anyway); supplement with niche sites that reach your target audience. Track results by monitoring website analytics, reputation and social site stats. Learn more about social media strategy at: http://www.blockbeta.com/social-media/

The two biggest "don'ts in social media" are:
1. Don't jump in without a commitment
2. Don't forget to test, test and test

Social media is a commitment. You can explore the waters discreetly but don't jump in and abandon ship without expecting an impact to your brand.

There are hundreds of do's in social media, but so what if you don't know it all at the beginning. It is a forgiving arena where you can test, test and test some more.

A third don't I may add is "don't forget to accelerate and repeat what does work for you in social media. A little success is a glimpse of what could be greater success.

Really know and understand your target market and their demographics. Then pick the appropriate social media. For example, if you wish to sell cloud computing services then utilizing My Space, which is primarily for younger teens, would be a waste of time and energy. You might find some interest on Facebook but your best chance for an audience is likely to be LinkedIn, the mostly business to business social network.

You also need to interact with the audience in their language. If you are marketing on My Space then using the latest teen slang would be appropriate. Let us say that you are a liquor store that wants to market on Facebook and LInkedIn. For the Facebook audience you might want to concentrate on interesting beer, the latest cocktail or new product but don't post or let anyone else post photos of drunken parties. On the other hand giving information on higher end wines and liquors plus gift box selections for corporate giving would be appropriate especially for the holidays.

In summary, know your audience and what social networks they use; speak their language; and choose target appropriate products and services. Let your audience know that you care about them and your mission to provide the best in services and products. Be socially responsible.

Don't fall into the lazy trap of integrating Facebook and Twitter!

I absolutely hate seeing Twitter posts on Facebook that are filled with hashtags that mean nothing on Facebook. Facebook users like less posts, pictures, and they use @ to reference other people or pages that are on Facebook and not Twitter.

The two social media sites most likely will have different account names for the same company, so take the time to reference people properly.

I also strongly feel the two sites have unique languages and you need to learn to adapt your messaging to coincide with each's site's verbiage and audience.

This may sound selfish, but before you jump into any social media activity, think about yourself first. The term "SMB" covers a wide swath from mom-and-pop shops to enterprises with up to $499.9M in revenue. ($500M is usually the cut off point.)

Take all the great advice above proportionally so that it meets your internal capabilities. Otherwise, you'll be overwhelmed with work and underwhelmed with results. And both you and your customers -- along with your employees -- will be frustrated.

1) be realistic about the time you have to spend towards social media
2) hire someone if you don't have time to blog, tweet, etc
3) plan your topics, research what's top of mind, build content to support topic
4) use third party sources, link to thought leaders/analysts/ customers to bring credibility to your coversations
5) highlight real world experiences, bring in the good, bad, and humor of a situation

Don't assume you need to be on Facebook and Twitter...pick the Social Media tool that is most actively used by your customers and most effectively will meet your business goals..... it just may not be Facebook, perhaps it's some other site/tool.

This is an excellent topic and there are some great answers. I made this into our Focus post of the week. http://blog.insideview.com/2010/11/10/key-things-to-avoid-for-companies-using...