While social networking is all about human interaction and cannot be straitjacketed, here are some tips that will come in handy.
What you should do?
Add value to your contacts: Always add value to your social media contacts. Always! Provide them useful information, tips and other interesting facts that they can use.
Be consistent in your online participation: Social media is not a one-time effort. It is about building a relationship…and relationships take time. Be consistent in your social media communication. Have an interesting tweet/post/update at least every day.
Pay attention to what's being discussed: If you have joined a forum or a group, actively participate in relevant discussions.
Conversation is the key: As mentioned before, social media marketing thrives on relationships. To build a strong relationship with your prospects, you need to engage in a conversation with them. Maintain a 2-way communication between you and your audience.
Thoroughly know the subject you are talking about: Position yourself as an expert on Social Media platforms. But be sure that you know what you're talking about.
Personalize your interaction: It's advisable to personalize your interaction with your audience on social media. Inquire about an event or occasion posted on a Wall, such as a recent trip, or "like" their vacation pictures on Facebook.
Respond to your customers' grievances ASAP: Did you know that 88% of customers say unanswered complaints on social media sites deter them from doing repeat business? And deleting customer complaints is even worse! So make sure you resolve your customer's complaints on social media platforms immediately.
Mention your Social Media presence: Advertise your social media profiles. Always provide links to your social media profile in your website, blog, e-mails and even print materials.
Monitor & moderate: Monitor your social media presence. Find out where your name's coming up online and in what context it has been used. A Google alert is the simplest way to do this, though there are many free tools available online to monitor your web presence.
Syndicate your Social Media content: Content creation takes time. So why not make the most of the content you have? Post your content on all popular social media sites and don't hesitate to re-use them. Turn a blog post into a link and put it on Facebook. Convert it into a video and add to YouTube and Facebook or turn it into a presentation and put it up on SlideShare. The aim is to get maximum exposure for your content.
What you should not do?
DON'T overtly push your products/services: Social media is a networking platform, to build relationships, to create value. It's NOT an advertising venue. Your audience will shun you if all you talk about is the stuff you sell.
DON'T spam your contacts with pointless updates: OK, so now you added two new products to your line-up. While it's great to share the news, don't spam your contacts with ads. Put up a link to the new range of products; monitor who is interested and share information on a need-to-know basis.
DON'T have grammar and spelling errors in your posts: You are a small business out to create an impression. Don't spoil it through spelling and grammatical errors. Use spelling/grammar checking tools, but never rely solely on them. Proof-read your posts before putting them up online.
DON'T fail to respond to requests for help in your area of expertise: If you are a part of a group or forum, seize every opportunity to display your expertise. Don't be a wallflower—actively participate in discussions.
DON'T let your profile get stale: Make sure your profile is frequently updated and that you offer something new. One mistake many small business owners make is creating social media profiles and then forgetting about them. Your social media efforts have to be on-going to bear results.
DON'T get distracted: There's a lot of distraction available online—especially on social media channels that can make you lose track of your productive hours online. Games, quizzes, forums and live-chats—while these can be interesting tools to attract prospect interest, focus on your goals. Otherwise you'll find yourself investing too much time and energy into activities that offer no returns to your business.
Remember that social media marketing success depends on careful planning and execution. Your goal should be to maximize the value of your social media contributions.
What you should do?
Add value to your contacts: Always add value to your social media contacts. Always! Provide them useful information, tips and other interesting facts that they can use.
Be consistent in your online participation: Social media is not a one-time effort. It is about building a relationship…and relationships take time. Be consistent in your social media communication. Have an interesting tweet/post/update at least every day.
Pay attention to what's being discussed: If you have joined a forum or a group, actively participate in relevant discussions.
Conversation is the key: As mentioned before, social media marketing thrives on relationships. To build a strong relationship with your prospects, you need to engage in a conversation with them. Maintain a 2-way communication between you and your audience.
Thoroughly know the subject you are talking about: Position yourself as an expert on Social Media platforms. But be sure that you know what you're talking about.
Personalize your interaction: It's advisable to personalize your interaction with your audience on social media. Inquire about an event or occasion posted on a Wall, such as a recent trip, or "like" their vacation pictures on Facebook.
Respond to your customers' grievances ASAP: Did you know that 88% of customers say unanswered complaints on social media sites deter them from doing repeat business? And deleting customer complaints is even worse! So make sure you resolve your customer's complaints on social media platforms immediately.
Mention your Social Media presence: Advertise your social media profiles. Always provide links to your social media profile in your website, blog, e-mails and even print materials.
Monitor & moderate: Monitor your social media presence. Find out where your name's coming up online and in what context it has been used. A Google alert is the simplest way to do this, though there are many free tools available online to monitor your web presence.
Syndicate your Social Media content: Content creation takes time. So why not make the most of the content you have? Post your content on all popular social media sites and don't hesitate to re-use them. Turn a blog post into a link and put it on Facebook. Convert it into a video and add to YouTube and Facebook or turn it into a presentation and put it up on SlideShare. The aim is to get maximum exposure for your content.
What you should not do?
DON'T overtly push your products/services: Social media is a networking platform, to build relationships, to create value. It's NOT an advertising venue. Your audience will shun you if all you talk about is the stuff you sell.
DON'T spam your contacts with pointless updates: OK, so now you added two new products to your line-up. While it's great to share the news, don't spam your contacts with ads. Put up a link to the new range of products; monitor who is interested and share information on a need-to-know basis.
DON'T have grammar and spelling errors in your posts: You are a small business out to create an impression. Don't spoil it through spelling and grammatical errors. Use spelling/grammar checking tools, but never rely solely on them. Proof-read your posts before putting them up online.
DON'T fail to respond to requests for help in your area of expertise: If you are a part of a group or forum, seize every opportunity to display your expertise. Don't be a wallflower—actively participate in discussions.
DON'T let your profile get stale: Make sure your profile is frequently updated and that you offer something new. One mistake many small business owners make is creating social media profiles and then forgetting about them. Your social media efforts have to be on-going to bear results.
DON'T get distracted: There's a lot of distraction available online—especially on social media channels that can make you lose track of your productive hours online. Games, quizzes, forums and live-chats—while these can be interesting tools to attract prospect interest, focus on your goals. Otherwise you'll find yourself investing too much time and energy into activities that offer no returns to your business.
Remember that social media marketing success depends on careful planning and execution. Your goal should be to maximize the value of your social media contributions.
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