Why Social Media Use In Business Is Critical For Your Business
As you review this piece on social media use in business, keep the quote "Ads aren't cool" in mind. We'll tell you why and who said it later on.
From the earliest stages of starting your business, you should be thinking of developing your social network marketing. You should also ensure you have a strong presence on the Internet generally. To realize this you should go beyond a clever website name and driving web traffic to your site. You should be thinking of how you will use social media to foster stronger connections with your customers and prospective customers.
Social media refers to new media platforms and websites that people are using to connect to each other and to companies. The key websites and platforms are of course Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and YouTube, all of which have become global phenomena. There are also other popular, niche-oriented social networking sites, the number of which is growing daily. In order to use these platforms effectively, you will have to find the right places to create profiles, and then use them properly.
Why is the appeal of social media sites?
The main driving force behind social media is that these sites allow people to interact on a more personal level en mass than ever before. It links people via their interests and friends and is an exceptional environment in which people and the people at companies can interact as well. It is also a forum in which prospective buyers of products and services are looking for additional information. Fortunately, those on these sites are typically more open to taking that information in as well. To some extent this is because social media is still new and novel. Whatever the explanation, social media's capacity to cut through commercial jumble and get a message across is really quite tremendous.
A world social media superpower
Facebook has over 800 million registered users and spectacularly continuing growth. This site alone can play a huge part in developing an effective social media strategy. One of the benefits of Facebook is you can create a page, called a fan page, for your company or organization for free. This holds great potential for getting new business, and will aid you in keeping current customers up-to-date on new products and services. There are vendors making professional fan page design template software, which is worth a look to take full advantage of Facebook features and ensure an attractive page.
As part of your strategy you should tell are your customers, vendors and everyone you know to "like" your page, and additionally post your page name on any printed business materials, your website homepage, in web directories and basically anyplace your business is publicized. The posts you present on your fan page will make an impact because you are reaching people where they spend so much time.
Ads aren't cool
A word about the advertising and content you put on your business Facebook page. Just remember the famous line in the recent film The Social Network purportedly uttered by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg early on in his development of the site: "Ads aren't cool."
Either way, take this notion to heart when designing copy to put onto the site. New media users are not receptive to being marketed to in a strong way. Be more subtle and cordial in your communication. Also try to get your Facebook visitor's attention in unique ways with tools such as polls, videos or other unique content.
An additional site important to your social media plan is Twitter. This site also permits you to make a profile for your business, and follow your clients, customers or other complimentary businesses. You follow them and they follow you back, expanding your number of "followers." There is also software available which can enable you to maximize your impact with Twitter. Your tweets should be pithy (at 140 characters maximum they have to be) and impart some useful information.
For b2b marketing, it is important to make a business profile on LinkedIn, which acts as an excellent professional networking site. Interfacing with individuals or different businesses in your industry is made natural on this site. LinkedIn in also permits its site members to put advertising on the site. You can list your Facebook and Twitter profiles, and also email directly the 135 million users on LinkedIn.
A new worldwide player
Google has entered the arena of social networking with the introduction of Google+ in 2011. Google+ is geared in a way that will help you to attract business-minded people. This is a great place to find people to collaborate with to grow your business. So, the first thing you and your key partners and/or employees should do is develop a personal presence on the site. Then, place links to your other social networking profiles, website, and e-mail address. You can even create a video to share with your contacts there.
As to video, increasingly companies are also using advertising video on YouTube in their advertising campaigns. Releasing creative spots on this site has been a game changer for some businesses, netting them much free attention. Just make certain your YouTube channel is designed to send customers to your website or permits direct contact with your company.
All of these tools are essential to build into your marketing strategy in today's message-saturated marketplace. By carefully designing your strategy and being smart with your messaging, you will be able to extend the reach of your business marketing messaging exponentially with a smart social media strategy.
Learn more about social media use in business and answering the question how do I open a business? at openthebusiness.com. James Duncan, the writer of this article is a a marketing pro with 30 years experience and chief editor at the site.