Using Social Media to Drive Your Business
May 6th, 2011A few new facts about Facebook (from a February 2011 MerchantCircle.com news release regarding the rise of social marketing in local business):
- Seventy percent of merchants use Facebook to market their business. This is up from 50 percent the year before.
- At 66 percent, Google is now second to Facebook as the most-used marketing method for local businesses.
- Thirty-seven percent of the merchants rated Facebook as one of their most effective marketing tools.
Love it or hate it, you cannot ignore the impact Facebook and other social media networks can have on your business. In fact, you really must have a proactive social media strategy to compete effectively.
Below are some ways to use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media sites to your advantage.
Stay focused. Align your social media activities with your business’ objectives. You may not need to be on every social media site. Do some research about which of the sites is best for your company. Maximize your presence in one area rather than doing a lot of intermittent postings.
Become the go-to-expert (or company). Online social sites can become a great showcase of your knowledge, products and services. Write and post links to thoughtful articles about your industry. Link to other articles that identify trends or cite research.
As the go-to-source, your company will be able to attract top talent. As you become a source that top professionals turn to when they’re looking for up-to-the-minute information, you’ll start attracting top professionals because they want to go to the top themselves — and that “top” will be your firm.
Link blog posts to your social media sites. It’s easy to have your Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn feeds announce that you’ve just written and uploaded a new post to your blog. Each of these platforms allows you to set this up so that the announcements post automatically.
Make it easy for talent to find you. Place links to your social media accounts everywhere: place links in e-mails, on your website, on your direct marketing materials, etc.
Be sure to stay active. Aim to post at least three times a week. Engage in conversations on the sites at least twice a week. Recommend solutions to your follower’s problems. Refer them to companies (not competitors). Be of service.
Med-Scribe, Inc. uses Facebook, Twitter, blog posts and other social media venues to stay in touch with our clients and candidates. Is your company using social media well? Share your social media outreach successes with us here. We look forward to hearing from you!
