Social Networking for Business
Many online businesses still don’t make use of social networking sites as part of their marketing campaigns. The addiction to MySpace seems like it was a long time ago, but it, along with a few others, opened a whole new world to a lot of marketers who have used them in part to become very successful today. It started to become clear to many marketers that social networking was likely going to be a significant part of their future.
Think about how many ways Facebook in particular has influenced the world of online business since its launch. Many companies have to actually ban the site on their computer networks because so many people are practically addicted to these types of sites. This is not good news for the productivity levels for most companies, but for online marketers this addiction is a huge opportunity.
Social networks are so huge that even Google jumped on the bandwagon by creating their own Google Plus platform (which is very similar to Facebook). Even though Google wasn’t all that original in their platform and layout, they copied what others are doing for one reason… It works!
Using Social Networking Sites
Since more than half of internet users are on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and many others, the hard part has already been taken care of for you. All you need to do is to build a profile page for your business and get people to see it. Easier said than done? No, not really. It’s pretty simple. Once you’ve set up your page it’s up to you to get users to your page and generate some new exposure for your brand.
This is the social networking part. All you need to do is to find people who share your interests or have an interest in your particular product or niche. The next step is to “friend” them by sending them an invite. If they accept your request and start following your posts, it’s important to keep the relationship going by interacting with them. This doesn’t mean asking about their personal lives or darkest secrets, but by simply let them know that you exist by commenting on posts they make. A simple acknowledgment of a status update or picture they’ve posted will do. The more you interact with them, the more likely they are to return the favor by checking out what you’ve recommended or “liking” your page.
Every social networking site is different of course, but the basic concept remains the same. Let them know you’re a real person and that you’re paying attention. Don’t simply blast out promotional material either – it’s important to build trust using constant interaction first. Once you have that ‘personal’ relationship, it’s ok to include ads or special offers along with your other posts.
Don’t get left behind by your competition, jump on the social networking bandwagon as soon as possible. Especially with the recent algorithm changes implemented by Google, social influence plays an even bigger part when it comes to SEO. That’s more than enough reason for you to get started using social networking to build and advance your brand.
