By Monika Baraket
By now you’ve heard about social media, it’s quickly becoming the most important trend in business today. So what is social media and how can you effectively use it for your business? With respect to the former, social media is an opportunity to connect with your customers, drive traffic to your website, and promote your business by having what the experts call “many-to-many” conversations. It’s a mix of blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and many other tools. With respect to the latter, below are 10 tips for effectively using social media in your business:
1. Create a strategy
Many of us are so excited about using social media to grow our business that we forget key pieces to success: definition of business goals, objectives and overall process for execution. To build a strong Social Media network, it is critical that you carefully choose key influencers in your industry and choose your activities strategically. The number-one reason that people feel lost in social networking is that they don’t have a strategy.
2. Find your voice and your audience
Decide what you want to say and who you want to say it to. You must understand your audience and build goals that are realistic and possible. Knowing what your audience is looking for is fundamental in reaching your goals. It is also important to remember that others want to know you, not just what you sell.
3. Market your expertise
Sharing knowledge you’ve gathered through your trade can go a long way toward boosting your brand. Casual social media users will not receive the same respect as those that have made a commitment to contribute quality content over time. If you take the time to build up a reputation for expertise in your niche area, this will result in your gaining the confidence of other members of your respective community – this is the best form of marketing.
4. Invite others to become part of your circle
Follow people on Twitter, invite colleagues into your LinkedIn network, and make friends on Facebook.
5. Start talking
Post content regularly and comment on other sites. Treat it like any other conversation… join in once in a while. How often? Contribute at least once a day on Twitter, and at least twice a week on Facebook and LinkedIn.
6. Reward Customer Loyalty
Through Social Media, companies can not only run promotions more frequently than coupons in the mail will permit but also devise more whimsical and engaging campaigns.
7. Boost your credibility by helping others
For service providers, establishing yourself as an expert in the field can bring in a steady stream of business. LinkedIn’s Answers feature enables business owners to do just that.
8. Be a member, not a marketer
Putting up too many links to your company’s website can turn people off. What you want to do is build relationships. This is a concept of push marketing versus relationship marketing.
9. Integrate Social Media into your overall marketing strategy
Let people know that you are out there. Link your social networking pages to your website. Add badges to your e-mail. Promote your social networking pages on print collateral.
10. Contribute Content
Be the one to create quality content. Studies show that people are reading much online, but a much smaller group is contributing content. This can mean good opportunities for you.
Top social media resources to get you started
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
LinkedIn
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