One of the most important functions of social media is that it allows businesses and organisations to receive feedback from customers and visitors, which they can then respond to through the various social media services they are using.

You should think of doing this with any of the social media interfaces that you use on a regular basis. Consider asking visitors to post or send you a story about how they’ve used your product. There is nothing better than a customer’s recommendation but there is also mileage in customer’s suggestions and may help you to improve a product or service.

Regardless of which form of social media you are using—be it Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or forums—remember that you’re always representing your business. Engaging in flame war on a forum; or personally attacking a blog reader is unlikely to bring you good press.

In addition to creating enemies, flaming will also make your business look amateurish; and could cause existing customers to seek out other sources for the products they buy.

As a business owner, you value your time greatly. You know that every move you make impacts the productivity of the entire business—not just your own. This is why it is so important for you to cautiously make time-allocation decisions.

When it comes to social media marketing, most would argue that you should err on the side of over-engagement, rather than under-engagement. I agree with this; however, it is worth taking steps to automate procedures and to engage customers efficiently where you do it.

You should treat your social media marketing campaign like a true marketing campaign. If you were wasting an inordinate amount of time across any other dimension with your business (and weren’t getting any return from it), you’d either change your approach or find more ways to be efficient with your current approach. And that is exactly what you should do here, too.

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