Social Media – up your street and here to stay!

Much has been feted in the media about the impact of social networking and how every business must have a Facebook page and Twitter account if they want to attract new customers. But to many businesses, Social Media is either unknown or not understood, let’s discuss & help clear things up.

In some business circles Social Media is thought of as just a recent fad that diverts effort away from more traditional marketing activities. However we firmly believe Social Media is here to stay, and realising the opportunities it offers should be high on the agenda when developing your business marketing plan.

What is Social Media?

Capitalising on the ever-growing number of regular Internet users, Social Media is all about networked communication, exchange, discussion and sharing. It’s a way of getting people involved in what your business is doing, whilst raising awareness of your brand. Look at the options open to you and what the benefits of each are; Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are the most popular currently.

Traditional advertising is all too often about what we determine to be memorable text, images and branding, and discharging these towards even carefully considered market segments in the hope that someone will hear. Web-based social media and networking, by contrast, perpetuate listening, not just hearing, inviting response and exploration of your subject.

Is it for everyone?

In short, yes, but selecting the right type of social media for your business can mean the difference between a waste of precious time, or a booming venture. If you’re not already familiar with social networking, or indeed the web, then get some help, because you need to be! On the other hand, if you are already an avid surfer or even a fully fledged tweeter, then examine the exchanges that are taking place with your fellow networkers to see if they are generating genuine interest in your business, or just becoming a general message board with no identifiable benefit.

What does it take to jump on the bandwagon? The path from failure to success is as long as you make it, proportional to the amount of effort you put in, to help you on your way we’d like to offer the following tips:

1. Get familiar with social networking yourself
   Explore the options and see how it works for other people.
2. See your web designer and integrate social media with in your website
   Often the first point of contact for social media are links via your own website. Make it easy for people to find and follow you.
3. Get smart, and influence conversations and posts to promote your business
   Encourage fired-up fans to expand the size of your networks by posting relevant, interesting topics for discussion.
4. Offer promotions exclusively available to followers
   A great method of increasing networking – entice and reward! This can be done direct through Twitter, or a custom styled Facebook page - ask for details!

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