Having a Guide to the Social Media Jungle
Small businesses sometimes need a guide when it comes to the
social media jungle. I found this article where it highlights eight social
media tips to help small businesses grow. I’m not an entrepreneur or anything,
but someday I hope I can help revamp social media sights for a small or large
business. These tips are great not only for businesses but for any organization
(even when marketing ourselves!).
1.
Show the “real you”
It’s good to put up tips or link
to a new blog post but companies and professionals at times will want to see
the real you. What can you bring to our business or better yet, this world?
Also including thought provoking questions like, “How can we encourage America
to become more social media savvy?” help to show your thoughts.
2.
Pick one thing and do it really well
I don’t know if I completely agree with this because the whole point of
social media is to market and use all sources possible for information. They
brought up a good point when they said prioritizing resources towards activities
that deliver the most impact is smart (for example Follower wonk). When you
find what network has concentration of target audience, you can focus more on
what networks need more attention.
3.
Turn Facebook page into a lead-generating
machine
Collecting names and e-mails to communicate with an ideal audience on a
regular basis puts your business out there. In fact, without a list of
qualified leads, you don’t have a business. This list can grow through
marketing moves on Facebook (iFrames) and other networks.
4.
Invest in a great twitter design
There are plenty of people or businesses I have found and follow on
Twitter because of their great design. The fact that they invested the time to
create one shows they mean serious business (no pun intended). One way they
suggested how to market your Twitter account is through following Twitter ads
that market to your niche. Many will click to confirm and be directed to your
page. If they are interested, they will follow back. One company
(@HungerGamesPod) searched a basic @TheHungerGames ID and added over 4,000
followers to his account in less than a month by doing so.
5.
Bring company onto video
Adding short videos is one of the number one ways to get to the top of
search results. Customizing channels on you tube adds credibility and increases
the chance of viewers continuing on to the website. When humor and graphics are
involved, views will increase, as well as when it’s three minutes or less. The
shorter, the better.
6.
Master video marketing
Learning how video content can
increase exposure in search results is key (through proper tags, titles and
publishing). Video thumbnails have higher attraction than just text. Video can
also highlight a company’s personality.
7.
Monitor your clients and prospects
Showing clients you are interested
in them can be done through creating alerts and adding their blogs, creating a
twitter list and also adding a tweetdeck. Adding social connections and
monitoring what clients say and do in social networks helps to serve their
needs and build relationships faster.
8.
Give away the secret sauce
When content is displayed on how-top tips and industry secrets, it
creates content that solves customers’ problems. It’s a competitive advantage
where content will rise in search rankings and be shared through many networks
with your business title as tagged.
I thought these tips were all really smart and presented
ideas I had never thought about. When you look at successful businesses, make
sure to look at their social media. It’s a rare occasion when successful
businesses will have only a few networks.
