7 Ways To Start Using Social Media In Your Business
27 Oct
Social media is important to business not because it is the new marketing gimmick or ploy. It is not an end in itself. It is a toolset plain and simple. There is no magic here. Just several opportunities for you to use social media to grow your business.
1) LISTENING
We all know listening to customers and clients is important. By asking our customers what they want we can better craft products and services to fill those needs.
But what if they don’t tell you directly?
Then you’ll have to do the listening work on your own.
A great example of this is Comcast.
How did they do this?
One example is Frank Eliason. I met Frank in Las Vegas last month when I was speaking at Blog World Expo. Frank has signed up for a Twitter account under the name @ComcastCares and is activly involved in the Twitter community. He uses search tools to find what people are saying about the company in Twitter and helps them with the issues they have.
2) ENGAGE YOUR CUSTOMERS
Enter the world of blogging. By now your company has a blog and you understand the need to create current content for the web (or at least you should). By doing this you are providing search engines the food that drives traffic to your site.
But are you using your blog platform to engage your customers?
The goal is to create a feedback loop that customers and clients can use to carry on a discussion with you about the The comments section is a great first step to doing this. Other ideas include running contests on the blog, profiling key customers and how they use your products, and asking for testimonials to post.
3) SPREAD INFORMATION
The web is the great down economy buster. There are very little costs to start a company blog and the upside can be huge. By posting information on the web you can cut down on the costs of printing and mailing. In working with the Maryland Z00 we have begun placing all the materials online in PDF format while cutting down how much we mail out as printed hard copy.
4) MARKETING
I’ve harped on the power of hosting your own content on your site/blog/channel. But you should also be looking for ways to build outposts. Chris Brogan has a great post on why this is important and what it can mean for the marketing in your business.
5) TO BUILD REPUTATION
The tools online allow you to build a case for your work and character. Be careful. They can also build a case against your work and character.
One of my favorite tools for business people is LinkedIn. It allows you to build an online resume along with a photograph and collegue/customer/parter testimonials. It is searchable and provides a nice home base for your professional online reputation. Many of my business clients and fellow online comrads use this tool.
Personal/professional blogs also allow you to build a case for your character, knowledge, skills, and potential.
6) TO BRAND
Gary Vaynerchuk has taken an average family wine business and has turned it into an international $12 million per year powerhouse.
How?
He produces a daily 20 minute online video on wine tasting. He tastes wines and talks about them. He has a daily viewership over half a million people. He’s now signed with a Hollywood talent agency, has appeared on numurous TV shows, and did I mention he’s rich?
But the biggest secret about Gary’s success is his community building skills. He answers every email sent to him. He works his tail off to get out and meet people and build his network and fan base. This is classic social media augmenting real world business. And it is working great.
7) TO CONNECT THE DOTS
There are elements of your business that are intangeble. They escape you and your staff. Little bits and pieces. Those photos of you hosting a charity event last year for example. Until recently there wasn’t a place for this type of content unless it went out to your customers in an official mailing or publication.
But with Flickr and other network sites you can post these photos, videos, and information for the public to “discover” about you and your business. The web in general, and social media in particular, have made it possible for your customers, clients, and prospects to get a glimps of you beyond the official business publication.
One tool that will allow people this kind of access is Twitter. Twitter is a micro-blogging platform. By posting relevant, insightful, and helpful Twitter posts throughout your day – you will show your human side. You can allow people to see that you are down to earth and genuine. Of course this means you actually have to be down to earth and genuine.
Go Get Started
So there are 7 ways to start using social media in your business. The key is to get started. Don’t worry aout screwing up – the costs are so low that it won’t be a big deal. Just get out there and experiment.
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Joel-Mark-Witt.com is a blog about technology, blogging, social media, video, podcasting, and how you can use all these tools to grow your business, even if you know nothing about computers and the Internet. If you like this blog please subscribe to it for free by RSS or eMail.
