Pepsi has been advertising during the Super Bowl for 23 years and is NOT placing TV ads during this year’s Super Bowl.  Why?  Because it believes it can get a better return on investment by putting those marketing dollars into social media.

It’s not all guesswork, either.  A new study from Wetpaint and The Altimeter Group now shows that companies who were the most engaged in social media marketing increased revenues by 18% , versus companies not engaged in social media marketing, who showed an average decrease in revenues of 6%.

What can your small business do to take advantage of marketing via social networks?

Keep it simple.  Don’t let the incredible number of social networks overwhelm you.  Start with the popular kids – YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.  Set up a business profile on each of them.  You can expand to other networks after you’ve gotten your feet wet–and identified which might serve your target niche markets. 

Don’t lose site of your brand.  Be sure you’re using your logo, your color scheme, the look and feel of your website and other marketing materials when you set up those profiles. Keep your non-verbal communication effective by making it consistent and professional.

Take the time to learn the ropes.  Each of these system has advanced features that benefit businesses, from places you can post custom content, to putting badges and widgets on your site, to use RSS feeds between your site and the social networks.  Find out what’s available and maximize your profile on each network.  Then…

Integrate!  To keep your sanity, and to get the most out of your involvement in each of the networks, you’ll want to integrate your profiles to work as one.  For example, your latest blog post might push to facebook and the first 140 characters of it also post to twitter.  We can help you set this up if it seems overwhelming.  Check out ping.fm, a wonderful site that lets you post to all your social networks at once!  Getting integration in place can seem challenging but it will save you a lot of time in the long run while also expanding your reach.

Give each social network individual attention.  While this may seem the opposite of the advice to integrate, it really isn’t.  Decide which information you’ll post to all profiles and integrate your networks to make that happen.  Then give some individual flavor to each.  One restaurant we know has their bar manager post regularly to their facebook profile while their chef de cuisine tweets (posts to twitter).  This gives each location a voice and a personal touch.  Social networking is about building relationships with your customers and potential customers.  If your social networking integration makes your efforts seem automated to your friends/fans/customers, you’re spinning your wheels.

Plan on, and be committed to, posting regularly.  This is frequently the hardest part of any marketing plan for small business owners.  Social Network Marketing is fairly inexpensive in terms of cash but not in terms of time.  You must commit to spending at least a few minutes on a regular basis to develop relationships with your customers.  Log in regularly, read and respond to comments and post new content.  If you have employees, consider delegating portions of this effort to them.  In our experience, the companies who create a social media strategy, outlining which social sites the company will use, what content will be posted to each, how often, and who is responsible, have the most success.

Beware.  Social Networks are a grand way to poke a hole in your bottom line and let profits run out when they aren’t properly managed.  Make a plan and stick to it.  You’ll soon be realizing the benefits of social media marketing as a component of your overall marketing mix.

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