On Friday afternoon, I went to a talk by Euan Semple, former Director of Knowledge Management for the BBC and now influential speaker and adviser to companies like Nokia, the World Bank and NATO, on all things social media.

Almost every startup I’ve interviewed for FLT has a presence on various social media platforms: usually targeting a mix of Facebook, Twitter and maybe a blog. Some do it much better than others. However, getting your social media sorted can help decrease the cost of your customer acquisition, and help you better understand what potential customers want. Here’s some of Semple’s advice for startup founders:

1. Spread ownership

“People want to get involved,” says Semple.

“If you have a business where people can be part of it, you need to harness that.”

That means allowing your customers to get involved in your business. Cake Wines, a Sydney-based wine startup, have just run the Archi-Bottle, an annual prize for the best artist-designed wine labels for their range of wines. It generated chatter on social media, and media coverage on relevant blogs. The specially created labels have become also a recognisable part of the Cake Wines brand.

Or take event ticketing site, Eventbrite. The company released data last week showing that each time a user shares an event on Facebook or Twitter, on average it earns $3.23. Because events are inherently social — you’re more likely to go somewhere if your friends are too — the effect is easy to see.

2. Build your own profile

Semple says it’s worth spending time building your own profile online. Keeping a blog is a good way to do that. Some of my favourite blogging Australian founders include  Rebekah Campbell of Posse.com, Matthew Ho of Native Tongue Apps, and James Marin of GoParcel.

Having a blog isn’t just about reaching out, it can help you stop and think. Semple jokes: “it allows you to write yourself into existence”. Keeping a blog actually forces you to think. He says while it can be challenging to form your own opinions, let alone publish them to the world, having a blog will help.

“It’s gives you a reason to take five minutes a day, five minutes a week, five minutes a month to stop and think.”

He says you need to think what you’ll say about a particular topic, and how other people will respond. For a founder, it helps create visibility for your startup. It also gives people — your customers, investors and suppliers — an insight into what you’re doing.

You could also personalise your corporate blog. Chris Hexton, co-founder of GetVero, makes it clear that he is behind the posts. That takes us to Semple’s next piece of advice.

3. Give your customers personal service

Your company’s social media presence should be personal, says Semple. His last book was titled Organisations Don’t Tweet, People Do; it’s a constant theme throughout his talk.

Love or hate their service, phone companies are some of the best at making social media personal. Optus, Telstra, and Virgin have staff sign their own name on Twitter and Facebook. It makes you feel like you’re dealing with a real person, and not a computer.

Semple says Twitter and Facebook are inherently social, and companies need to recognise this. Twitter shouldn’t be seen as a channel to publish a 140 character media release. The writing style needs to be more informal. People have expectations about what’s appropriate on social media. Companies need to ensure they understand their customers.

On his blog, Semple explains that his best online customer service experience was with bag company Crumpler. He reached out to the company on Twitter, after the strap on his Crumpler bag came loose. Semple was hoping for some advice on how to rethread the strap. The company tried, and failed, to explain how to do so in 140 characters. But soon, one of the staffers posted a series of photos on Flickr, which stepped Semple through the process.