How to Make Social Media Work for You and Your Business
Social media has really taken off beyond what anyone could have expected just a few years ago. Both individuals using it for fun and businesses looking to connect with customers are finding that it can bring benefits that would be hard to achieve in the offline world.
But to benefit from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare and the like in a professional sense, make sure you follow a few basic rules to help you really feel the full force of what social media can provide:
Be Active: There is little point signing up for a social media account if you only use it once a month and never interact with people. Update information and communicate with key connections on a regular basis to stay visible. Try setting aside half an hour or so per day that is dedicated social media time.
If you struggle to know what to tweet, comment or mention or are unsure of how to connect with the right people, contact a web team with a social media department. They will either manage your campaigns for you, or train you how to do so yourself.
Be Relevant: Have you ever read something and thought "so what?" afterwards? Avoid these messages in your social media material, including Tweets and Facebook status updates. You will not create a buzz for your business if what you say is not relevant to the people you want to connect with.
Post hints, tips, recommendations, local event information - create an interest and respond to questions. Talking about what you had for dinner is not really relevant in a business sense, is it?
Make the Right Connections: Do not think that just because you have followed 2000 people you are a Twitter expert. Or because you are connected to 500 people on LinkedIn you are a networking guru. It's all about making the right connections. What is the point of connecting with someone who has no link to your area of business or affiliation with your audience? It makes much more sense to target relevant people you know are interested in your services.
A website design team with social media experts will know who to target. They will look for people who are interested in your business and who are likely to want to read what you say and spread your message to their followers. Even if you only have 10 followers on Twitter, say something relevant and it could be 'retweeted' by five followers who themselves have 1000 people following them each in the same area of interest as yours.
It is all about making the right connections. It's not how many people you connect with, but who you connect with that's important in social media.
But to benefit from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare and the like in a professional sense, make sure you follow a few basic rules to help you really feel the full force of what social media can provide:
Be Active: There is little point signing up for a social media account if you only use it once a month and never interact with people. Update information and communicate with key connections on a regular basis to stay visible. Try setting aside half an hour or so per day that is dedicated social media time.
If you struggle to know what to tweet, comment or mention or are unsure of how to connect with the right people, contact a web team with a social media department. They will either manage your campaigns for you, or train you how to do so yourself.
Be Relevant: Have you ever read something and thought "so what?" afterwards? Avoid these messages in your social media material, including Tweets and Facebook status updates. You will not create a buzz for your business if what you say is not relevant to the people you want to connect with.
Post hints, tips, recommendations, local event information - create an interest and respond to questions. Talking about what you had for dinner is not really relevant in a business sense, is it?
Make the Right Connections: Do not think that just because you have followed 2000 people you are a Twitter expert. Or because you are connected to 500 people on LinkedIn you are a networking guru. It's all about making the right connections. What is the point of connecting with someone who has no link to your area of business or affiliation with your audience? It makes much more sense to target relevant people you know are interested in your services.
A website design team with social media experts will know who to target. They will look for people who are interested in your business and who are likely to want to read what you say and spread your message to their followers. Even if you only have 10 followers on Twitter, say something relevant and it could be 'retweeted' by five followers who themselves have 1000 people following them each in the same area of interest as yours.
It is all about making the right connections. It's not how many people you connect with, but who you connect with that's important in social media.
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