Successfully Using Social Media

Most businesses understand that they need to incorporate social media into their marketing strategy. Many also know that keeping up with all of the latest social media changes can be challenging. Here are some ideas to help you with both of these issues.

Concentrate on Specific Platforms

Some people call it social media overload, and that is a fair way of putting it. It occurs when business owners try to tackle more social media channels than they can reasonably operate. When site owners beginning thinking they have to be on “all” of the social networks, they get overwhelmed.

Happily, the solution to this problem is simple: work only those social media channels that are most suitable to your business and be where your potential clients and customers are. Discover there your customers are going for their social media needs and establish a present there, and ignore the other dozens of channels.

So, how do you find where your potential customers are hanging out? Well, the old fashion way still works—ask them. You can also to the channel’s search and join existing communities that are related to your business, and you can set up a Google Alert. Just set up your alerts with business, name, industry, and topics the interest you. When you see something interesting, join in the conversations.

Add Images to Do Some Work For You

If you have been doing some social media work already but are not seeing any results, check your site to see if there are any interesting images on it. Use blank images to boost your visual appeal. Look for those Facebook blank images like chalkboards, balloons, etc that you can add text to in the form a question that allow your visitors to answer.

 Platform versus Network

Think of social media as having two types of outlets: platforms and networks. Platforms (YouTube, blogging, podcasts, etc) are very good for sharing your knowledge, credibility, and expertise with others and provides a way for you to get feedback. Networks, on the other hand, are similar to true networking events; these would include Google+, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

Your task is to decide which is best for your business and then master it. Or, you can pick one network and one platform and concentrate on getting the most out of only those two, rather than trying to bounce through a dozen different ones. Investing a lot of time on sites that do not bring about results is, frankly, time wasted. Better to focus like a laser, than shot like a shotgun

The above are only a few of the many strategies you can put into place to ease your social media workload and get better results in the process. It makes little or no sense to continue using your valuable time on social media tactics, that are broad-blast at best, that are not bringing in good results. The better option is to focus on a few outlets, maximize how you use those outlets, and offer your audience some real value with your content and postings.