安冬妮娅·欧皮亚深知社交媒体对于小企业来说是一个多么有威力的工具。

欧皮亚是专注于黑人美发的时尚网站Un’Ruly的创始人。几年前，她的一支充满争议的原创纪录片《你可以摸摸我的头发》（You Can Touch My Hair）在网上发布后，欧皮亚一时间成为舆论焦点。这支纪录片在视频网站上吸引了70多万次点击量。它记录的是在纽约市举办的一场户外行为艺术，片中有三位黑人女性举着牌子，鼓励路人摸摸她们的头发。

黑人女性的头发一直令很多人感到神秘，欧皮亚拍摄这支纪录片正是为了鼓励人们大大方方地讨论这一话题。这个话题确实火了起来。欧皮亚不仅听见大家在现实生活中谈论，在社交媒体上发声的人也不在少数。不过大家却并没有欧皮亚期待的那样兴奋。

“这支纪录片的口碑非常两极化。” 欧皮亚说。“在黑人看来，我们好像在利用黑人女性进行炒作。我理解他们的观点，但是我明白我们这样做的核心目的。”

欧皮亚是在2013年6月发布这支纪录片的——也就是在她的网站刚刚上线不久的时候。此后，她通过在多个主流社交媒体平台上与粉丝互动，迅速积累起了自己的顾客群。

对于小企业经营者应该如何利用社交媒体扩展品牌知名度，欧皮亚也给出了自己的建议：

1.加群

欧皮亚指出，如果你是一家小企业的老板，那你很可能已经做了一个专门的Facebook页面，用来更新产品信息和向粉丝进行推广。然而这种对话很可能是单方面的，目标群体对这个页面的关注度也取决于Facebook的算法变化。对此她建议道，你可以加入一些相关的Facebook群，以便更好地与关注有关话题的网友群体进行互动。对于欧皮亚本人来说，自然是加入与护发有关的群了。“我发现加入这些群能够提高你所发布的内容被正确的目标群体看到的机会。”

2.心急吃不了热豆腐

刚刚开始创业的时候，欧皮亚把大部分精力都放在了Facebook上，因为这个平台能给她的网站带来最多的浏览量和收益。而现在，她的公司在Twitter、Instagram、YouTube、Google Plus和Tumblr上都建立了坚实的阵地。不过也有很多创业者在这方面吃了苦头。欧皮亚表示：“心急吃不了热豆腐。如果你总是得在社交网站上发帖子，那肯定是有不小的压力。你可以先选择一两个对你的公司来说效果比较好的社交网站进行深耕，不要一开始就制定过于雄心勃勃的社交媒体计划。”

3.创作能带来收益的原创内容

对于社交媒体营销来说，最理想的就是当一个“段子手”，而不是“抄袭狗”。作为一家小企业，如果你想从社交媒体的各种杂音中脱颖而出，关键是要创作符合品牌定位的原创内容。欧皮亚指出：“有很多品牌只是转贴他们从网上找到的图片，结果是大家的页面看起来都一样。”欧皮亚最近推出了一项按需设计的发型服务，她只将这项服务在Un’Ruly的Instagram主页上进行了推广，并且用上了原创照片和视频。她认为，要让顾客亲眼看到他们购买的服务很重要。事实也证明，Un’Ruly在Instagram上的25%的粉丝都成了她的顾客。“Instagram充分彰显了原创内容的效用。”

4.别忘了社交媒体的意义是“社交”

欧皮亚表示，作为商家，你在社交媒体上的发帖和互动最忌干巴巴和程式化。欧皮亚自己每天都会抽出10到15分钟时间在社交媒体上发布一些她觉得粉丝们会感兴趣的内容。“如果哪天我没有任何有意义的东西可以分享，我就不会发贴子，这样也并不会有什么负面效果。”通过那次发布纪录片的经历，欧皮亚发现网友们都是很直率的，而且他们也愿意与品牌进行互动。欧皮亚还表示，不管网友表扬还是批评，只要他们花时间对商家提出反馈，商家就应该投桃报李，抽出一些时间与他们互动。“要么解决他们的问题，要么多给他们一个爱上你的品牌的理由。”

5.不要老是道歉

那么，小企业在社交媒体上最常犯的错误是什么呢？欧皮亚表示，很多商家总是在不需要道歉的时候道歉。“我认为这是这个时代戾气太重导致的结果。但是你不可能做到让每个人都高兴。所以你要谨慎和明智地道歉。” （财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

审校：任文科

Antonia Opiah knows just how powerful a tool social media can be for a small business.

Opiah is the founder of Un’Ruly, a lifestyle website dedicated to black hair. Several years ago, she found herself in the spotlight after her controversial original documentary called “You Can Touch My Hair” went viral. With more than 700,000 views on YouTube, the film documented a public art exhibition held outdoors in New York City where three black women held signs encouraging random bypassers to touch their hair.

The idea was to start a conversation about the myths surrounding African-American hair. There was a conversation, alright. Not only did Opiah hear from the community face-to-face, but people sounded off on social media. And they weren’t as excited about the conversation Opiah was hoping to have.

“The documentary was really polarizing,” Opiah says. “To black people, it seemed as though we were exploiting black women. I understood that point of view, but I knew what was at the heart of what we were doing.”

Opiah made the documentary in June of 2013 — shortly after she launched her website. Since then, the sole proprietor has effectively grown her customer base organically by interacting with her audience on every major social media platform. In just three years, Un’Ruly has attracted more than 10,000 followers on Twitter, 7,000 on Facebook, and 6,000 on Instagram.

She shared her tips on how small business owners can grow their brand through social media.

Consider joining a “Facebook Group”

If you have a small business, you likely have a dedicated Facebook Page where you share updates and promotions with your followers. However, the conversation tends to be one-sided and the community engagement is dependent on Facebook’s changing algorithm, says Opiah. Opiah recommends joining a Facebook Group for better engagement with a community that cares about a niche topic relevant to your business. For her, it was hair care. “I’ve found that participating in those groups increases your chances of your content getting seen by the right people,” she says.

Don’t get too ambitious with your posting schedule.

When Opiah first started her business, she focused most of her attention on Facebook because it was the platform that drove the most traffic and revenue to her website. Today, her business has a solid presence on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Google Plus, and Tumblr. This is where the majority of entrepreneurs stumble, she says. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew,” she says. “There’s always pressure to always be posting, but pick one or two social media networks that will serve your business well and focus on those. Don’t start out by setting a schedule that’s too ambitious.”

Produce original content to drive revenue

Ideally, you should be a creator, and not just a curator. For small businesses that want to differentiate themselves from all the noise on social media, the key is to create original content that is in line with the brand’s mission. “There are lot of brands that are simply just re-posting other pictures they find on the web, but what ends up happening is that profiles start to look the same,” she says. Opiah recently launched an on-demand hair-styling service, and she only promotes it on Un’Ruly’s Instagram profile through original photos and videos. It’s important for the customers to have a visual of what service they are paying for, she says. She’s been able to turn 25% of Un’Ruly’s Instagram followers into customers. “Instagram is a glorified portfolio of our work,” she says.

Don’t forget that social media is meant to be social

Posting on social media and interacting with followers should never become mundane and formulaic, Opiah says. She carves out 10 to 15 minutes out of her day to post content that she feels will be interesting to her audience. “On days that I just genuinely don’t have anything meaningful to share, I don’t post,” she says. “And I haven’t seen a downside to that.” Through her documentary experience, Opiah learned that people are vocal and they want to interact with the brand — whether it’s to compliment or to complain. Either way, Opiah says entrepreneurs need to take the time to engage with the users who took time to engage with their business. “Resolve their issue or just give them more of a reason to love your brand,” she says.

Stop apologizing so much.

When asked about the most common mistake she sees small business owners making on social media, Opiah says it’s apologizing when they don’t need to. “I think part of it is a result of living in this era of outrage,” Opiah says. “It’s futile to try and please everyone. Use your apologies carefully and wisely.”