Social media is the group name for websites that offer interaction between users.
They include blogs, message boards and sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
Why should I bother?
Social Media is a way for people to talk to each other in a way that has never been possible before.
Here are some facts:
- Over 100million videos are viewed every day on YouTube
- Facebook has over 250 million active users
- 3,000,000 messages are sent each day via Twitter
- Over 1,000,000,000 links to blog posts, web links, news stories, photos and notes are shared on Facebook each week.
Even if you think you’ve never used social networking, you probably have by reading a blog or watching a video from a Google search...
How Can Social Media Help My Business?
Social media gives you the opportunity to build your brand. It gives you interaction with your existing clients and potential customers. Most importantly, it gives you a way of talking with them, rather than at them.
It’s like networking, but on-line.
You’ll discover new ways to promote your business and the opportunity to increase your ranking on Google and other search engines. It can help you with PR, customer service, loyalty-building, collaboration, networking, thought-leadership and customer acquisition.
The Rules1. Listen
Just listen and observe. Research who is out there and who you want to reach. Join sites you are interested in but sit on your hands and resist the urge to start straight away. Good news travels fast... bad news (or comments) travel even faster!
2. Plan
Decide how you are going to use Social Media and work out the time and resources you will plough into it. If you need help, ask for it...
3. Engage
Think conversation not sales pitch. Even on the internet, people buy from people. Let your prospective clients get to know you and your thoughts and don’t start shouting your sales pitch as it just won’t work.
4. Measure & Review
Like all marketing, you need to know it is giving you a return on investment. Analyse website traffic, enquiries etc to see what works and don’t assume that social media will be the answer to everything!
Summary
Social media is here to stay, but without a plan of how we are trying to use it within our marketing mix, it is easy to waste our time and money. However, by putting together a clear plan of who we are trying to target, with which medium and defined messages can help you to interact with clients and potential customers to strengthen your brand and grow your business.
Many businesses I know have begun their social media experience by 'dipping a toe in the water'. And with training in how to plan their use of the different sites appropriate to their business (and in some cases, help writing blogs and posts) have grown its use so that it is now an integral part of their marketing.
If you would like any further advice, do give me a call for a no-obligation chat about using social media in your business - I look forward to hearing from you!
Hannah
Hannah Sookias
Sookias Media Tel: 01283 808460 www.sookiasmedia.com
Digital PR - Blog Writing - Social Media Training - Articles - Features - Public Relations
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