In organic SEO (search engine optimisation) and ORM (online reputation management), social media become the vehicles for your messages and your online sustainability and credibility.

We work mostly with small businesses or independent service providers who believe enough in themselves to take on the larger organisations that are able to offer better price, but aren’t always able to get in touch with their customers on a personal level: the personal touch.  The one thing that is always present: passion.

That’s the beauty of the businesses that keep the economy thriving, they’re big enough to make a difference and small enough to remain passionate and focused on what they’re doing with the same natural drive that spurred them to take action in the first place.

“The power of public relations lies in good communication that is aimed at building sustainable relationships.”

The hurdle that they most often face is that of a small voice, but a big heart.  Here’s where online reputation management comes to their aid.  If you’re in a smaller organisation or work for a non-profit, where there is no large budget for major marketing and communication campaigns, you need to know that you can harness the power of social media and blogging to establish, enhance and explode your communication potential!

Twitter, Facebook, blogs and the like, are not about how many people follow but WHO follos.  Some of the people that we’ve worked with have always said “We’re not big enough to have a twitter stream” or  “We won’t have enough fans on Facebook”, and our response is “The sooner you start, the better.”

The power of public relations lies in good communication that is aimed at building sustainable relationships.  Communication always works best when it starts with the smaller things and establishes a base of trust and credibility.  This is why we use blogs, Facebook and twitter in our strategies.  These online communication tools provide us with the foundation for saying what needs to be said and then telling others that we’ve said it.

Social media is not about advertising slogans or marketing catch-phrases.  It’s about being real, relevant and playing your role in your community. So, if you’re still asking “Do we need social media?”, then let me answer for you: “Yes.”

Here are some solid principles, that we recently came across, to approaching and managing your social media strategy.

Be kind to others.
There was a bumper sticker that read, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” That’s not the case with social media. Social media isn’t about amassing a large number of followers; it’s about building an engaged community of followers who may actually frequent your business. Engage with these people on a personal level. Talk with them and not at them.

Use one toy at a time.
You may be tempted to jump on Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare or even launch a blog, but do you or your staff really have time for all this? Probably not.

Figure out where your audience is and start there. It’s far better to build an engaged following on one network than to have largely inactive profiles on several networks.  There are only a handful of social networks that work well in the South African market, and you need to know how to use each one within your strategy so as not to hinder the one with other.

Use your indoor voice.
Posting Facebook messages about how great your company is and why your products are the best may seem like a great way to advertise, but social media isn’t advertising and marketers need to quash any urges to use their advertising voices here. It’s like shouting at your customers through a megaphone when you should be conversing over a cup of coffee.

Ask customers questions, answer their questions, post polls, and ask customers to post stories about your business. Tell customers about your news and specials, but make sure you talk about other things too.

Play by the rules.
Think that offering a free widget or coupon to everyone who likes your company on Facebook is a great way to build a following? It might be, but it’s also against Facebook’s rules and can cause the network to shut down your page. This would force you to build your following all over again.

Be sure you know the rules of the networks you use and play within them. There are great, cost-effective contest and promotion applications you can use to host giveaways on Facebook, so check them if you want to offer a giveaway.

Practice patience.
Successful social media programs do not happen overnight; it takes time to build an engaged following. But, the payoff is worth it in the long run. Don’t be tempted by the scores of direct messages on Twitter that offer ways to increase your following by the thousands. These will not be engaged followers and many may not even be real humans.

If your organisation does not yet have a social media strategy in place, contact us to help you establish and maintain a game-player strategy today.

(Laura Finlayson is vice president and director of digital strategy at Beckerman, and contributes to Beckerman Voices, where a version of this article originally ran.)