These days it’s very difficult not to take notice of Social Media. In just a few years (Facebook was only launched in February 2004 and Twitter in July 2006) social media has flourished into nearly every aspect of online life. Initially facebook, twitter and youtube were predominantly used by individuals as a means of social expression but as these platforms have expanded, business has had to sit up and take notice of a huge global audience. Over the next few years traditional advertising will increasingly change from ‘what we want to sell you’ to what ‘what do you want to buy from us?’, a simple but very important and fundamental shift.
Whilst many are very familiar with the use of social media for personal use currently there still seems to be an air of mystery as to how to proceed with you business within the confines of Social Media.
We can set up your Facebook page or Twitter page following the branding of your company or website, get you your vanity url and also inform you of changes and best practices within these environments, if you wish topdraw will even run your online social media presence.
Whilst there are now numerous forms of social media like Linked In, Google+, Pinterest etc below are a few suggestions we’ve compiled for twitter and facebook (however, many of the same suggestions apply to a range of social media sites).
Facebook and your business
What kind of information should I put out about my business?
Dependent on you business type the level of interaction from the public will vary. Some businesses inherently contain a communal basis – for instance www.cupcakeboxesuk.com sells cupcake boxes to quite a specific demographic who are also big users of Facebook. As well as discussing products and special offers followers of the page also help each other with recipe tips and interact on their own behalf without any direction from cupcakeboxesuk. Whilst not all businesses have such a communal demographic or enthusiastic and participatory audience a presence in social media is still entirely valid.
As with email newsletters posts on Facebook can lead directly to extra sales or ‘bums on seats’ for restaurants etc if considered and implemented with due care and attention.
When and How Often Should You Be Posting on Your Wall?
Posting on the weekend and in the mornings is the prime time for getting more engagement for your page. The majority of people will engage with Facebook in the morning before work or after getting home from work. Bear in mind many companies have strict policies on staff use of the internet so many users will not be viewing Facebook at lunchtimes.
Once every other day is the optimum frequency of posting. This avoids bombarding users but keeps your profile visible. Experiment with content like blog articles, photos and video. One of the most popular topics on Facebook is Facebook. Where relevant talk about Facebook, people enjoy talking about this.
Also bear in mind that subject matter should not always be about trying to push a specific service, product or offer. Keeping an aspect of ‘light anecdote’ within posts will reveal a more ‘human’ side to your business and this is a feature that the public increasingly want to see from business.
Twitter and your business
The following is advised by Twitter:
Build your following, reputation, and customer’s trust with these simple practices:
1. Share. Share photos and behind the scenes info about your business. Even better, give a glimpse of developing projects and events. Users come to Twitter to get and share the latest, so give it to them!
2. Listen. Regularly monitor the comments about your company, brand, and products.
3. Ask. Ask questions of your followers to glean valuable insights and show that you are listening.
4. Respond. Respond to compliments and feedback in real time
5. Reward. Tweet updates about special offers, discounts and time-sensitive deals.
6. Demonstrate wider leadership and know-how. Reference articles and links about the bigger picture as it relates to your business.
7. Champion your stakeholders. Retweet and reply publicly to great tweets posted by your followers and customers.
8. Establish the right voice. Twitter users tend to prefer a direct, genuine, and of course, a likable tone from your business, but think about your voice as you Tweet. How do you want your business to appear to the Twitter community?
Conclusion
It’s worth bearing in mind that we still exist within the formative years of social media. The first years have been frustrating for business because of the amount of changes that have been implemented without any regard for business concerns and usage. As social media sites evolve