Social media has become the tool to allow people to learn almost anything they want about one another. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many others have made the ability to know what someone is doing every moment of everyday a reality. As scary as that sounds, what if you used that for the good of your own business?
Each of these sites make it possible for you to target your business content to people who are ideal prospects for your services. In a poll taken by statisticsbrain.com at the end of 2012, they found that 56% of those polled used some form of social networking. Understanding how that can help you is the key.
If you stay diligent and connected with those individuals, recent marketing statistics have shown that 53% of Twitter users recommend companies, 74% of B2B companies use Facebook marketing, and 57% of businesses got customers via LinkedIn. Each of these sites are free to join and can create a big impact on your business.
When your business decides to dive into the social media world make sure you are doing it properly. According to Forbes there are ten tips to follow for effective media management:
- Have a plan – find out where your business can add value
- Don’t worry about perfection – listen and learn from others, humility is always exhibited on social media
- Focus on one tool at a time – It is more effective using one social media than five of them poorly. Choose the one that most of your customers and prospects are.
- Show up consistently – Make sure your time frame daily or even weekly is the same.
- Use your own voice online – Make sure this reflects you and your company brand.
- Set time limit – Make sure every marketing activity has a time limit. Do not get lost in the social media world.
- Turn off notifications – This will decrease your overall productivity when you are not working on social media.
- Schedule new content posts – Keep your posts consistent by scheduling when you will posts something new.
- Review analytics – Make sure you are paying attention to your results. Are the marketing efforts working? A good tool for this is Google Analytics.
- Set an expected return on your investment – Ask yourself, what does your business hope to gain from social media, and over what time period?
Some may wonder how these tips can help you build your business. These are just some facts you find on the internet. The truth is I use some of these daily at Neishloss and Fleming. I am not saying you have to follow every tip that I have suggested from Forbes, but there are a few key tips that are important for starting to build a social media presence for your business.
For instance, scheduling new posts has become very helpful. I have made it a rule that I make sure I post every day, so that people can start to count on seeing things from your company. Another important tip is to vary the content in order to provide different types of information. Those two simple things have been a solid base to get me started and I know it can help you. So, have some fun, take some chances, and GOOD LUCK! The world is out there waiting; so quit reading this and get on social media.
Great points, Jamie! I wish more people would realize the power social media has regarding promoting their business. And the best part of all? It’s free!
All excellent tips, Jamie – managing your social media is just as important as creating it.
You really can tap into a larger audience online, and good point, Ariel – it’s free advertising, unlike newspaper or television. It seems like now a days, more people are paying attention to social media as well!
I need to take your advice and get online myself!