Social Media for Business

Nov 16, 2009•Blog Posts•Online & Digital Media•Social Media• by author

Scott M.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn are all social media sites that are quickly becoming a part of the daily routine – and not just in the lives of individuals but to all types of businesses, both big and small. Social sites are being used for multiple purposes with one of the latest being to promote companies and connect with the everyday consumer. But it’s more than just showing up and being present, that’s the easy part. How can you, as a business, use social media to actually increase your bottom line and boost your overall sales?

Find Your Audience

The first step to successfully utilizing social media is inviting both current and potential customers to become a part of your networking sites. You want current customers to discuss and promote their experiences with your products or services and potential customers to learn about your business and what you have to offer. Finding your customers is the first step you must make to ensure your messages are being heard by the right people.

Know Your Audience

Connecting to your followers is a vital step in establishing your online presence. Help manage their expectations when visiting your sites by maintaining a consistent image and tone from page to page and try to not constantly repeat yourself. For example, if you are utilizing multiple social networking sites, don’t have the same exact message posted on Facebook as what you have posted on Twitter. Not only are readers going to become uninterested in your repetitive messages, but what you say to one social networking audience may not be right for another audience. Tailor your messages to your specific audience. What you say on LinkedIn shouldn’t be the same thing you say on Twitter, because the audiences are very different.

Engage a Conversation

Photos and videos are great ways to not only promote your products and services, but to also  showcase your business as a culture and demonstrate what a great work environment your business has. Be transparent enough so that you can relate to your customers and so they can feel like they are a part of your company. Use social media as a conversation piece with your current and potential customers to make them feel included. Keep up with the discussion boards, allow for client feedback, and keep the interactions open for constant discussions.

Provide Incentives

You should also give your social network followers something special that only they have. This can be exclusive coupons, promotions, notifications of upcoming sales, or anything that will give them more of a reason to continue to follow you and will give others reasons to join.

When using social media to promote your business, remember that it’s more than just creating a site. Just like any other marketing effort, it is best to know and find your audience and give them something useful and engaging to help build your brand and, ultimately, encourage sales.