"Hey, we're on Twitter!"
Once you hear that from a business, it's usually a great sign that the organization is embracing social networking and taking appropriate steps to engage their customers and connect to their most loyal followers. Making the commitment to start a social networking campaign from inside a company is a good first step. However it's not the only step that a business must try effectively use social networking to generate more interest in the organization and in their products or services. In fact, many business are failing miserably at properly using social networking to achieve customers.
The greatest misconception about initiating a cultural media campaign for a business is that it's quick and easy to do. Beginning, it might appear as simple as establishing a few accounts with typically the most popular social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, and then just adding some content Instadp. The situation many businesses quickly discover is that content doesn't write itself. And reposting or retweeting content doesn't help much in establishing you and your company being an authoritative voice among your followers. Sure it's helpful to post useful info or retweet links to relevant articles that the followers could be interested in. Just don't underestimate the power of original, company-generated content and how important that's to actually making any progress in the social world.
I wish I could tell you that getting were only available in social networking is as easy as establishing a Twitter account and uploading your company logo. The truth is, it takes time and effort. Thankfully, there are some easy and fairly inexpensive methods to getting your social networking campaign up and running smoothly. Here are some recommendations on getting your social networking efforts off the ground quickly and with fewer headaches:
1. Recruit some help. Sure most social sites are free to join and use. Content creation, on another hand, isn't included and you're all on your own with that area of the process. Or even not... The social market has given method to an entire new world of freelance talent who are experts in all things social. From content creation to page design to social networking development and everything in between, a large number of willing and able folks are out there ready to lend a hand. When it comes to writing content for your social networking campaign, consider finding a freelance writer who is an expert in your industry and can provide a few items of content on a regular or weekly basis.
2. Participate in the community. One of the biggest mistakes companies make in embarking on a campaign is trying to do all of the talking in their particular bubble. Venture outside of your Twitter page or Facebook wall and engage with your customers or clients. If you are strapped for time, refer back to tip #1 above and consider contracting a freelancer to deploy scheduled blog posts, Facebook updates, or tweets.
3. These are blogs... One of the most powerful ways never to only improve your social networking popularity but also your general effectiveness in online promotions and search ranking optimization is to generate and maintain a blog. Use your blog to deploy all of the great new content and promote it throughout your social channels. In the event that you post a great article on your own blog about your latest and greatest product release, be sure to link up your social accounts which means your blog content is automatically announced on your own social sites.
4. Start conversations. This is sort of tied in with #2. Don't just blast statements out at your followers. Your ultimate goal in a cultural media campaign is to have people speaking about you and your business. The same as in the offline world, an on line discussion is a two (or more) way street. Don't just shout at people. Ask questions, get your readers and followers to answer your ideas and thoughts. Get your coworkers involved and ask them to allow you to in starting these online conversations.
5. Take risks, take a side. Greater the organization, the more careful you will have to be about this. But as an over-all rule in social networking, be willing to take chances and have an opinion. People don't just want headlines in their social news feeds. Your web visitors need to know why they need to care about anything you've to say to them. Tell them why your brand-new service pays to, or why your brand-new product may be worth their time and money. If you are feeling especially daring, consider using social networking to market a viral marketing campaign (think Old Spice Ad Campaign). Create some attention-grabbing video content and utilize it to really get your customers talking and linking back to you.
If your company is simply retweeting articles once a week, I'm sorry to have to tell you that the company sucks at social media. Fortunately, social networking content generation is not as daunting a task because it seems and with only a little effort, you are able to launch a true social networking campaign and generates real results and turns your customers into your biggest advocates and promoters.