Social Media for Business

What’s your latest tweet? Have you uploaded a new picture on Facebook yet? Have you already added me  as a friend?  Common chats among friends are consist of this.  Why?  It’s the peak of the social media hype.

Sites like Facebook and Twitter are just examples of places where people can communicate to friends, families and colleagues.  They post their pictures, opinions and beliefs in any available subject they can think of (i.e. sports, politics, fashion, brands) and then discuss about it for others to see.  If you want to join in the discussion then you have to invite yourself in by requesting to be added as a “friend”.
The word of mouth referral nature of social media means that social media should be an essential and integral part of any business marketing plan .  If a friend, for example, likes a certain product, she may post something about it which will be seen by everybody in her network.  The product will be talked about, even tried, by her friends.  It’s a very simple marketing idea.

For business people like you however, setting up an account on Twitter or Facebook is not  all it takes to ensure success in promoting your business line. Spending time participating in social media is important, but  time consuming. So as an entrepreneurs or business owners whose time is precious, it is important to have a marketing strategy, and to determine how much time you can spend, and what you need to delegate to a staff member, or outsource.

Here are some things to consider when planning your social media marketing strategy:

• Which social media sites do your target market frequent?
• How will you move the contacts and relationships made on social media into your sales funnel?
• what type of information and content will you put on fan pages, tweet about etc
• How will you respond to comments and interactions?

When we work with our clients, these are the type of things we establish first, so that a strategy can be created that meets the goals and outcomes of the individual business. There is no cookie cutter solution as every business is unique.

It will be important for you have to know how these sites work and basically, what they do in forming relationships.  This is your starting point.

Market your products with sensitivity.  Remember, this is all about relationships.  It’s not just about you selling your products, it’s about how your followers trust you to talk about their opinions and beliefs.  During one of these conversations, you can slip in a little about business.  It’s in the way you drive the discussion to your goal.

You can keep track of your products’ reputation through social media, and your duty is to keep up with the changes of time and thrive on the positive response that your followers have given.  Improvement is important.  Improve your posts, your products (if needed), and continue to listen.  Don’t let your social media pages be boring or you’ll end up losing the friends/followers you’ve accumulated. Instead, set up events for them or invite them to your company’s promotional affairs.  This will make your fan base stronger.  It’s a sure win-win situation and you’ll see how social media has  impacted upon your business.

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