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Premium content from San Antonio Business Journal by Andi Rodriguez
Date: Friday, November 2, 2012, 5:00am CDT
Are you confused by wildly differing opinions about how to employ social media in your business plan?
If you’re a novice and can’t afford to hire a consultant, San Antonian Ajay Tejwani may have the answer with his recently published book, “The Social Media Action Plan.”
The book is designed as a comprehensive guide for planning, implementing and measuring social media efforts. Tejwani says he wrote the guide to help businesses understand an optimum way to develop a strategy for long-term success versus simply posting messages for short-term attention.
“I want to help business owners understand the true benefit of social media,” he explains. Tejwani, 39, and a University of Texas at San Antonio grad, is the owner and chief storyteller of Social Media Sapiens, an online marketing company in San Antonio, which he founded in 2008.
Serving clients across the globe, the firm specialize in website redesign, mobile websites, mobile application development, search engine optimization (SEO) and social media strategy consultation for small to medium-sized businesses.
In his book, Tejwani explains why social media is vital to business operations now — and in the future. He advises business leaders to be savvy and have a plan in place before jumping into social media. “Social media is not just Facebook and Twitter. There are many channels for social media, and knowing how to utilize them for the benefit of your business is crucial to change management and customer loyalty,” he says. In addition to giving readers a broad perspective of social-media marketing, Tejwani’s book also provides a planning template, online references and statistical data to guide business owners toward a successful online campaign.
The book also includes best practices and ethical standards to follow, and it previews what’s on the horizon in terms of must-have online tools.
Catherine Lester, a San Antonio PR strategist, says Tejwani suggested she consider key points as she determined the best path for integrating social media into her current tactics. “I needed to establish a benchmark before I embarked on a new plan,” she says. Tejwani asks:
1) Are you using social media for public communications or for building relationships?
2) Do you have goals, objectives and metrics for your social and mobile programs?
3) Does everyone in your organization understand the power of social media? (Or is it limited to 1-2 people?)
4) Do you think social media is the panacea for your business?
5) Do you use social media beyond Facebook and Twitter?
Tejwani adds that we’re moving briskly into a social economy, and relationships will be our new currency. “As per Nielsen’s Social Media Report (a national measurement expert), nearly four out of five Internet users visit social media sites or blogs,” he says. “Social media is the modern day word-of-mouth communication.
“How businesses utilize social media’s power is what makes the difference between success and failure,” Tejwani adds. “Companies need to plan how social media is going to support their mission, and plan how they’re going to engage their customers and prospects.”
For more information, visit thesocialmediaactionplan.com.
