By Robert Estupinian
Social Media has quickly become a very opportunistic way to market a business. Facebook has exploded into the second most popular website in the world with over 750 million users and half of them log on to the site every single day. Twitter is also in the top 15 on most days along with Linked In.
Here are six effective strategies to employ to make sure that you are using the social media for small business effectively.
- Be Active.
- Connect with Customers.
- Aggregate.
- Provide Compelling Content.
- Link.
- Don’t be all Sales.
To begin with you must be active in social media. This means signing your company up for an account with Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and any other sites that you can think of. It costs your company absolutely nothing to establish a presence on the web.
Once you have established your presence, the way to use social media for small business is to connect with customers. Compile your email list and send all of your customers an invitation to start following your company on Facebook and Twitter. Include the links to your social media sites in the email and let them know that when they add you to their friends list they will qualify for online offers that will only be available there.
You may think it will be too time consuming to post each day on all of the different social media sites and that is why our third effective way to use social media for small business is to aggregate. The easiest way to do this is to get a software program or phone app that allows you to post the same message to all of the different sites at once.
The most important thing to remember when using social media to promote your small business is to provide compelling content. It is absolutely essential that your Facebook posts and Tweets are about something that is of interest to your customers. For example, if you are a heating and air conditioning company, provide tips on how to keep your home cool when the forecast calls for a really hot day.
Another way to provide interesting material to your customers, is to link to material that is of interest to you. It doesn’t necessarily have to be business related but be careful to stay away from controversial items like politics because you do not want to offend potential customers. One excellent way to link is through association websites related to your field of business.
Be sure to check back here often as we will be featuring specific social media techniques and strategies you can use for your business.
Remember too, as you use social media for small business don’t be all sales. Include some personal information as well, like something your child accomplished at school or the latest on the little league team you sponsor. Show your are part of the community and try to establish a relationship with your customers that goes beyond business. Long term relationships will lead to repeat customers which will mean increased sales.
At Bay Area Mastermind we make sure that our members are aware of all the changes happening in and around the world of social media. We want our members to know what works and what is a waste of time. This information allows them to maximize their resources and time letting them focus on growing their business. If you would like more information on all the benefits available to our members, check out a test drive today or call or office at 888-425-8122.