Social Media, Social Networking, Leveraging Web 2.0 - it's
known by many names and it's all the rage!
Let me start by saying I am a fan of social media, I
personally choose to participate in social media. However
when you read about social media, you often only hear one
side of things - the message is clear - Participate or miss
out! And while I do believe that is true, I think it's not
always that simple.
There is so much to read, so many different opinions. It
can be overwhelming. First you have to decide which sites
to participate in and then you have to create your account
and learn how to participate. It's often confusing.
I am not saying this is an excuse not to participate. In
fact I am writing this article to provide some helpful tips
so you can participate. .
I think attention to the details is really important, so I
want to cover all the small items that people aren't really
talking much about.
Facebook: I started on Facebook as a way to connect with
old friends. I had all kinds of games and the crazy apps
(applications) that Facebook offers. When I started
networking for business I realized that all my business
connections were going to have access to all of this
personal information - photos, wall posts, they'd know
which Sex and the City character I was most like (if you've
spent any time on Facebook you've likely seen this app on
people's profile).
I understand that using social media to open up and connect
with people is one of the benefits. Allowing prospective
clients to get to know you helps build trust and
relationships.
But do I really want people to see every little silly app I
mess around with? Do I want them to see the crazy pics
from high school that have been posted?
Ultimately I decided to clean off some of the silliness
that wasn't really important to me and I left the rest. I
figured if I'm opening the door and letting people peek in,
there is no point in censoring anything. So I jumped in
and started adding "Friends" that were business connections.
Of course if you are only using Facebook for business, then
you don't have to think about these issues. If you do plan
to use it for both - just spend a few minutes thinking
about what you do and don't want to share.
Twitter: Make sure you think about what name is best for
you. I chose EcomBuffet (my company name) but have now
realized that people are searching for me by my full name
and not finding me. I would have been better off choosing
my name. Not a major issue, but something to consider if
you haven't picked your name on Twitter yet.
There are varying opinions about how often you can Twitter
(or tweet) and not annoy people. Some people say once per
hour, others say once a day. There is no hard rule about
this. You do want to consider it carefully though. If you
tweet too often, people may get annoyed and stop following
you all together, or just remove their cell phone updates.
That means when you have important updates, people aren't
going to get them at all or as quickly as they could have.
You want to find a balance. For me, I have been tweeting
about once a day. On some days when I have more to share,
I may tweet a few times day. Every time you tweet, ask
yourself if it is really information people will want to
know. If you are sure every tweet is useful and serves a
purpose then you can tweet a little more often. If it's
fluff and all self-promotional, then you should probably do
it less (or not all some may say).
Social bookmarking buttons: There are so many buttons you
can add to your articles for people to bookmark or vote for
your content. Digg, StumbleUpon, RSS Feeds, TwitThis etc -
My concern is that we are adding so many different options
and people become so accustomed to seeing them that they
ignore them. And with so many buttons people may get
confused and just ignore them. I don't know what the
solution is for this yet. I previously wasn't using any of
these buttons. I realize I am missing out because of that,
so I am now going to selectively use them. I don't have a
perfect plan in mind, I am just going to play with using
some of the more popular ones and see what happens.
MySpace versus Facebook: There is a lot of confusion about
the MySpace versus Facebook issue. The general consensus
is that MySpace has been trashed and isn't worth the time.
That isn't entirely true. There are still people making
money off MySpace. The key to remember is that MySpace is
a younger crowd with a lower income and Facebook has a
higher income and is older. The best thing you can do is
study both - see what others in your industry are doing,
see how you see yourself fitting in and most importantly,
come up with a plan. So many people just jump in and set
up a profile and then don't know what to do next. Just
being there doesn't mean the money is going to pour in. You
need to engage people, you need to come up with something
that people will want to see, hear or read.
Is it too late to join now? The answer is no! Studies show
that most of the social media sites are growing in
popularity and traffic and participation is increasing
month over month. Just remember, the rules change as these
sites evolve, so be sure you are current on what is and
isn't acceptable participation.
Check it out; see how you think you can fit into the space.
But remember its not all about how you will benefit. If
you don't have something to offer (information, resources,
insights, news etc) then people aren't going to be
interested.
How does all of this really help me make money? Consumers
are much more educated and demand much more than they used
to. We are all hit with so many sales messages daily; we
start to tune them out. What used to work doesn't work (or
at least not as well). In order for your business to
succeed and grow, you need to adapt.
People are looking for more information and companies they
can trust. Selling has become more about creating trust
and building relationships.
Social media helps you connect and establish trust. Any
one social media activity may not lead directly to a sale
in any given moment, but it helps you establish a presence
online; and in your prospects mind. If you get yourself
out there and share information, you will increase your
following and have a base of people that trust you that you
can market to.
That covers it for now. Keep the questions coming in!
----------------------------------------------------
Jennifer Horowitz is the Director of Marketing for
EcomBuffet.com. Over the past 10 years Jennifer's expertise
in marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has
helped clients increase revenue. Jennifer has written a
downloadable book on SEO and has been published in many SEO
and marketing publications. Jennifer is the editor of the
popular Spotlight on Success: SEO and Marketing newsletter.
Follow Jennifer and stay current on SEO, marketing, social
media and more.
No comments:
Post a Comment