Did you know that, according to 2012 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth research, as many as 80% of corporate heads believe there is a direction connection between social media marketing and increases in sales? Even so, an alarming number of companies continue to brush social media aside. Neglecting social media marketing, especially social media for small businesses, can put companies’ futures at stake. What are some of the best ways to make the most of business social media marketing?

• Use Social Media Correctly
  A Pew’s Project for Excellence in Journalism 2012 study revealed that most companies are not using Twitter correctly. Instead, research showed, “Mainstream news organizations primarily use Twitter to move information and push content to readers. For these organizations, Twitter functions as an RSS feed or headline service for news consumers, with links ideally driving traffic to the organization’s website.” Reports from the same study reaffirmed that 93% of corporate tweets contained links to content. Admittedly, this is not wholly a negative thing. Companies can, and should, use Twitter to push content. Companies should also, however, use Twitter for its original intent, or as a means of engaging consumers in conversation.

  Why aren’t companies doing this? Most businesses fail to realize that sparking conversations on Twitter can be just as effective as other forms of marketing through social media. How? The San Francisco Food Bank boasted a highly successful ad campaign, encouraging followers to spend less than five dollars on meals per day, and track their progress with the hashtag #hungerchallenge. Thousands took up the challenge and tweeted with the appropriate hashtag, resulting in the challenge being among Twitter’s top trending topics.

• Always Use SEO
  One of the best social media marketing tips is to carefully consider SEO, whenever possible. With a little creativity, relatively short tweets and Facebook statuses can include a high volume of keywords. Social media blogger Debbie Hemley advises, “Make a list of keywords that best describe your business and industry. Use these words as you compose your 140-character posts.” Finally, SEO content can go hand-in-hand with social media efforts by simply making the decision to add social media buttons to websites.

Social media is everywhere, and just about everyone frequent social media websites. Ignoring business social media marketing can be a crucial error. Use social media sites correctly, and always keep important keywords in mind, to make the most of social media marketing.