FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVEN’T GROWN UP WITH FACEBOOK, TWITTER ET AL, THE WORLD OF SOCIAL MEDIA CAN BE A CONFUSING ONE... BUT IGNORE SOCIAL MEDIA AT YOUR PERIL. INCREASINGLY, BUSINESSES ARE FINDING THAT SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS ARE THE WAY TO GET THEIR MESSAGE OUT THERE, BOTH TO EXISTING CUSTOMERS AND TO POTENTIAL NEW ONES. IT’S THE NEW FORM OF NETWORKING.
The trick with social media is to understand how it works, and to make it work for you. Companies like Twitter and Facebook are multi-billion-dollar enterprises, and not surprisingly, they’re looking to make even more billions out of you and me. It is very easy to spend money on social media and not get very much for it. But at the same time, Facebook and Twitter need engaging content, because without this, nobody would be logging on, and they cannot risk losing their vast numbers of users.
The first step is to establish a social media presence. We would recommend spending as much time as you can getting to grips with your chosen social media and trying to understand it as quickly as you can – and certainly before you spend money with the various platforms. It’s a very good idea to learn quickly what content works and what doesn’t. Think about what you want to achieve. Do you want to drive customers back to your website? If so, you need to come up with engaging content and some “teaser” posts to tempt the reader to click on your link and bring them into your website. The aim is to post something that is not only tempting to the person reading it, but is so intriguing that they “share” it with their friends. A successful post could actually increase your network of potential customers – and all for a little know-how and some clever social media content.