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Social media has reinvented the wheel when it comes to marketing, communications, and access to information.
The connections that are born and continue to grow between companies and their target markets is what social media is all about. We’ve told you this before, and we’ll tell you it again, social media is nothing without engagement. But before you can use the Web to foster relationships between your small business and your current and potential customers, you need to know that with the Web comes a whole new set of the rules for communicating. No rules = no engagement.
It is important as a small business owner that you or someone you hire to manage your online presence not only come up with a content strategy, but also understand a little bit about Computer Mediated Communication, often referred to as CMC. This is defined as any communication that takes place via computerized mediation: computers and smart phones, for example. More specifically, and most relevant to you and your small business, this includes e-mail and social media marketing as well as blog content.
The biggest difference between face-to-face communication and CMC is the absence of most nonverbal communication, which makes up almost 70 percent of the message. Nonverbal communication is everything other than the actual words. This includes tone, pitch, facial expressions and hand gestures. Therefore, it is imperative that you are clear and succinct in your online communication whether it be e-mail, blogs, or social media.
How is this relevant to you and to your business’s success?
Some of the major areas of interest when it comes to CMC have been impression formation and relationship management—two essential aspects of building a customer base for any business—and two goals of engagement. It is important that you leverage your Web and social media functions in order to leave positive impressions and maintain relationships with customers and potential partners—but you can’t do that without engaging with these individuals, and you won’t engage effectively if you don’t know the rules of CMC.
Now that you know why it is important to pay attention to the way tyou communicate online, here are the four most important tips you need in order to maximize your ROI on engagement:
ALL CAPS equals SCREAMING. No one likes to be screamed at. Don’t use all capital letters unless you want your target market to think that you are screaming at them.
Edit, because you can: Unlike in face-to-face conversation, you get to go back and edit your content before it reaches your audience. This allows you to be what has been known as hyper-personal; so take the time before you press send, to read, edit, and re-read your content. Furthermore, don’t make the mistake of treating blog content like a speech—once it’s out there, you can still edit it, so if you find a typo—fix it!
Make sure that you explain yourself: Research has shown that communicating via mediated channels can be just as effective as communicating face-to-face, but it takes longer. When crafting your online messages, be sure to explain yourself in order to compensate for the missing nonverbals. Don’t just assume that your audience knows what you’re talking about, because if they don’t then they will be left offended or confused—which will not lead to positive engagement.
Use video: There’s a reason why video logs (blogs with video), YouTube, Skype, and video-email are becoming increasingly more popular—it’s those nonverbals! Try to incorporate video in to your blogs and use Skype or WebEx when conducting e-meetings. But don’t forget—you can still edit! Just because you recorded the video doesn’t mean you can’t go back and do it over.
Social media is nothing without engagement, and engagement is executed most effectively when incorporating this basic knowledge of CMC. Think about your messages as you compose them, be clear and succinct, don’t be afraid to edit, and STOP SCREAMING AT YOUR CUSTOMERS.Get Busy Media is a blog and resource center that helps small businesses and entrepreneurs build smarter companies. For more information on how to jump-start your small business’s marketing, please visit www.getbusymedia.com or visit us on Twitter, @GetBusyMedia.
