Guest Post by Catherine Taylor
There is a great hype nowadays about using social media platforms to forward your business. Every entrepreneur is talking about it. Businesses are getting online, launching blogs, creating Facebook pages and joining Twitter to get closer to every kind of customer. Getting attention and working with customers is a great experience for any business. You may also be thinking about plunging into social media deep waters to enjoy the benefits.
Have you ever thought about which social media is right for your business?
Majority of the businesses do not analyze this question before going for social media platforms like blogs, Facebook and Twitter. What is the best way for a business to decide which social media platform is suitable for it? I would suggest every businessman to locate his prospective clients/customers first and then understand the convenient mode of communication with them. It is necessary because if you are going to launch your business profile on Twitter (a brilliant idea for business!) but your customers do not use it then it seems like waste of time. Your customers may be interested in blogs or Facebook.
It needs a little bit research to determine what your customers want, but the results will be great when you know what your customers’ are saying. Right now in the arena of social media, we end up with so many options such as Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and hundreds of social websites that leave us daunted in choosing the right one. It is because every business needs are entirely different from the others and you can not give proper attention to all mediums. Let’s review different social media websites and then find out which one is suitable for your business demands.
Twitter
One of the largest social media platforms (mostly used for business) with 180 million visitors per month and around 40 to 50 million tweets per day. Business key persons know that a lot of energy, time and zeal is required to successfully deal with a Twitter account and to get customers from there. You will have to be interactive in a personalized way and then convey your message to them within 140 characters.
You must have a sharp eye to know who is talking about your offerings and in which way. Retweets and “Followers of Following” are the best things to connect with customers in a personalized way and to ensure optimization.
Another famous and widespread social media that is quite relevant in social networking is Facebook. Majority of people consider it a suitable medium for business marketing and I believe it plays a vital role in making your business more visible and taking your brand awareness to the next level. But they do not utilize it properly to get the most out of it.
When people become your company page “fan” then without even peeping into your account daily, they get your updates, events and news on their Facebook wall. Through this, they can easily share your business news with their friends and turn them into your prospective clients indirectly. All that you need is to be active and relevant with lively images and content.
Blogs
Blogging is a “true base” for present social networking. Blogs are something personal that adds soul to your business promotion where you can easily describe your business and offerings the way you want to express. You can educate others the way you want, market your product and integrate with famous social bookmarking websites like Delicious, Digg and StumbleUpon.
You don’t have to be as regular with updates, like on Twitter and Facebook, as long as you update it with regular intervals. It is quite an interactive and effective way to create links with other websites and to know clients’ comments that can be very helpful in promoting your business. The only drawback of blogging is that you can influence your readers but you can’t restrict anyone to share what they think about your company.
These are not all the social media platforms available, but these are the ones that are “hot” and in demand today. Take advantage of these available platforms right now before it is too late. Allocate your time and energies in the right direction and take advantage what is being offered to you today.
Twitter: melaniekissell
January 18, 2011 at 11:45 am | Permalink
Great overview, Catherine!
Because a lot of larger companies and corporations don’t quite “get” social media yet, I feel small businesses really have the leading edge right now. And you’re absolutely correct in saying you must KNOW your target audience in order to choose the best social media venue to use.
If your clients and/or customers aren’t hanging out on Facebook, for example, it would be pointless to spend time there trying to market your products and services. The one thing you don’t want to do, for sure, is waste your time!
One thing I really love and appreciate about social media is that you can integrate your networks which, then, helps to automate your marketing efforts. I also like that you can communicate with your target audience in so many different ways through social media — writing, video, podcasting, etc.
Thanks, Fiona, for inviting Catherine to be your guest today!
Melanie Kissell´s last [type] ..How To Reach Desperate Buyers
@Melanie Kissell,
First of all thanks Melanie for taking out time to read my post and appreciating it.
I believe that majority of business people do not have clear idea that why they should join any social media website. What kind of benefits they can take from there in form of customers or awareness. That is why, it is necessary to let them know that they should analyze their business needs first and then allocate their time to preferred social media websites, where their prospective customers are.
Business people should take these social media websites as good interaction options and get personalized with their customers.
Rest you have elaborated it quite well, Melanie.
Cheers!
Thanks Martha for adding your point of view.
It is true that i wanted to tell the importance of social media websites to small business owners from business perspectives. As social media is not about blind marketing that everyone else around you, is talking about it so it is suitable for your business also.
Rest your further comments will also help me to improve.
Regards!
I might also add that using a Twitter tool such as TweetDeck helps sort out what’s going on a little better. Twitter is “real time” and there’s no getting around it. Using automation in small doses is great but in the end, somebody has to actually be connecting in real time for it to be truly effective. We’ve all seen the automated streams in Twitter and Facebook. In the end, nobody is paying attention to them.
You’ve given a fantastic overview for the small biz owner who is trying to learn what it’s all about!
Martha Giffen´s last [type] ..To Blog Or Not To Blog
Twitter: melaniekissell
January 19, 2011 at 5:08 am | Permalink
You’ve made a really good point, Martha. “Interaction” is the key. You’ve got to talk to your fans, followers, and online friends. Communication is everything in life … and in business!
Social media marketing is not a “set-it-and-forget-it” strategy.
Being able to integrate your social networks just helps you get your messages out to a broader group of people all at once instead of sending them to each network individually. It’s a real convenience and a welcomed time-saver!
Seems that most companies forget that Social Media Strategy is not (or at least should not be) a separate way of promoting things online, but rather be a part of the company’s online marketing strategy.
One cannot have a business that has a dull (if any) marketing plan and then expect Social Media activities to “rescue” its awareness level into the public eye.
What do you think?
adspedia´s last [type] ..One of those days
@adspedia,
Hi Adspedia,
The same thing motivated me to write on this topic. Entrepreneurs believe in the hype that what so ever they do with their marketing plan (even how poor it can be) but if they will join social media platform, it will do wonders or miracles for them.
This is not so true! Social media can be a part of a complete marketing plan but it can’t be the “ONLY” thing that can rescue their businesses.
Am i right?
@Catherine, absolutely
adspedia´s last [type] ..One of those days
Twitter: http://www.SEO-writer.com
January 20, 2011 at 2:54 am | Permalink
Interesting take. I think it depends on the nature of your business. I find Twitter is the true social base of my business, because my business is all about networking, helping others with their visibility and helping my clients be visible. My blog is sort of a rest stop to which I can retreat and post a lot of information, but it’s not where the networking happens.
David Leonhardt´s last [type] ..The Golden Rules of Guest Blogging
@David Leonhardt,
David, you are right, you are taking advantage of Twitter because it suits to your business needs. All that we need is to understand our business needs first and then choose suitable social media website.
Cheers!
Twitter: Brad_Harmon
January 24, 2011 at 11:21 pm | Permalink
It’s frustrating to watch small business owners jump on a social media platform like Twitter without doing some basic research ahead of time. They know they “have to be on Twitter,” but they don’t know how to use the tool properly. Too often they become unwitting spammers and get frustrated that nobody is responding to their tweets. Even worse, they follow the proper etiquette but, as you’ve pointed out, their target audience isn’t using that tool.
To echo adspedia, social media is a tool – it isn’t a strategy. Small business owners should look at how social media enhances and expands their current marketing strategy. It should be a synergistic relationship. Without understanding what role social media plays in your overall marketing strategy, it is unlikely your efforts will be successful.
Thanks for reminding us of this with your post.
Brad Harmon´s last [type] ..9 Lessons Bloggers Can Learn from Cats
@Brad Harmon,
Thanks Brad Harmon for taking out time to read and then leaving a comment about my post.
You have written crux of the matter in the line “social media is a tool – it isn’t a strategy”
What we can say ahead about it
Cheers!