There’s no doubt that social media is changing online marketing, and small businesses, once reluctant, are warming up to how it can help them to grow and thrive in this recovering economy. They are also coming to understand that social media marketing is not as easy as just setting up an account and watching the customers stream in. While it’s great to have a goal and a strategy in mind before getting down to tactics as my friends at Media Two have written eloquently about, if you decide that entering the social media space is right for you, what do you do next?

What you do next is back off from describing what you want. Leading up to this point, it has been all about you, but when talking about social media, that ceases to be true. Now, it becomes about your audience. And before you can get there, you need to describe that person (you heard me correctly: person, not people) in great detail and know what that person wants from you. And what that person doesn’t.

In most marketing and analysis circles, this is called building personas. But that’s just a term. Don’t get hung up on it. It just means you need to figure out some things about the customer you are talking with online. (Also not a typo: with, not to.)

To get your brain kickstarted on this, I’ll give you a few questions you might ask about your customer that can help you figure out how you’re going to engage that person. Continue reading →