If your business is not visible in the online world, it is similar to a caveman living in the 21st century. It’s about time to think outside the box, and that means you have to jump outside your “traditional” marketing strategies and be introduced with the new, very effective way in making progress with your business.
Starting new is starting small. However, that is not an assurance that people won’t know about you. And once you join the online world, do not fail to join it whenever you can. Having an account is not the only thing that you’ll do. Engaging with people, responding to questions, and even making strategized, well-structured posts and blogs are just a few of your responsibilities.
Here are a few things that you need to do before engaging in social media and what happens after that:
Take a good look at your business.
Here are a few questions you need to ask to complete this first tip:
- What am I trying to promote?
- Who are my target customers?
Knowing your target customers can help you gather more and more people. Know where these people hang out, so you can make promote your business better. Millions of people spend time online every day. It is easier to reach out to them.
Take-off with Social Media
There are many channels that you can use: FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google +, etc. FaceBook, for example, allows people to create business pages. It is important, however, that you read and understand the policies for business.
It is also advised that you don’t dive in untested waters. If you know how to use FaceBook, use it. But don’t use the others (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc) if you are not familiar with them. Master one channel first before signing up to another. Also, make sure you have time to spend to your other channels. Others should be well-maintained. You might discourage people if you have a poorly maintained account.
Have a page with good content before adding friends.
Why? It is simply because people don’t want to follow something that is not well-established. Even for personal accounts, people don’t want to add or follow faceless profiles or those that don’t have any relevant or interesting posts. So, before asking people to follow or like your page, make sure that you have established your page well. Give valuable information.
Photos and videos are very helpful. You can also upload photos of people (including testimonials) who have enjoyed and benefited from the services you offer. Videos can also be uploaded in your page.
When updating statuses, posting content, posting photos, and making videos, do not forget to make quality as the main consideration. This is what helps you lure people to your page or account and make them actually stay to read stuff about you...
Then, you can look for friends and followers.
Of course, this is to be done after you established a good, well-maintained account. When looking for followers, Twitter and Google + can be really helpful. If, for example, you have a small airport, the keywords “pilot” and “flying” can be used. You can start with small things, such as searching for local areas to find bloggers, outlets, city officials, and key influencers.
When aiming big, you can add people using Google+ and immediately comment on one of their posts. If using Twitter, you can immediately mention them in a post. You can comment in their posts to express your willingness to follow their great content.
You can gain trust from a blogger if you give him or her leads and story ideas that have nothing to do with your business.
When using FaceBook for business, it is always better to start with your friends and family. They also have friends to reach out to. You can post an ad on FaceBook for as low as $100.
Establish relationships- business aside first.
Some people can easily gain trust if you come to them as a person, not as a businessman. If you add somebody to be his or her friend, make sure to type a personalized note. A robotic note is not appreciated. The extra effort, on the other hand, is. Product pitches should be forgotten first. There is a good time for that.
Ask for a little help: Look for a Social Media Manager
Managing many accounts can be very taxing, if not intoxicating. That is why you need a little help from your friends- the virtual ones. Friends like Ping.fm and Hootsuite can help you manage multiple accounts. Remember that having a few channels is not enough; these channels should be well-maintained. So to buzz you for reminders, learn how to use these helpful tools. Through these social media manager, you can trace brand mentions in Twitter, for example.
If you get too familiar with these things, you can actually venture into other social media managers, like SproutSocial.com. A 30-day free trial is offered for a test drive- if it really works for you or not. This helps you track engagement of those who follow you. You can also have one inbox for messages from all the other networks.
An important thought; do not forget this:
Do not expect for miracles. Do not get discouraged after one week and you’re still not famous. This is a slow, gradual process that needs to be nourished every single day. It’s a step by step process, which you will have to invest a lot of thinking, strategizing, and even creating and knowing various approaches on how to handle things in social networking.
Stay updated for immediate action.
Everyone is on mobile today. If you have an account, the best thing to do is to get a good cellular phone that can alert you with updates and that can access your accounts anytime, anywhere. This is one way of being connected with your community. Always read and know what people say about you. Act immediately!
To know more about social media and tips for small business, read more on business social media.
