Signing up for a Facebook, Twitter, and/or other social networking account for your business is only the first step. In order to get the most out of social networking sites, you must have a strategy in place. Managing a successful social networking campaign requires time and planning, but the results can be well worth it.
Plan
Decide which of your employees will be responsible for managing your corporate social networking accounts, and how often they will update and post to them. If you are going to be doing the majority of the posting, decide when you will do so during the week and create a schedule that you can stick to. The scheduling is important – you need to create a feeling of expertise and authority with your audience, and regular activity is crucial.
Define Your Goals
Do you want to raise awareness of your brand? Increase your online following? Combat negative press surrounding your company? Maybe you hope to accomplish all or a combination of these goals. In any case, taking the time to list your goals before you begin will help you and your employees to focus on the end result, and will keep your message cohesive.
Create Quality Content
This can include short marketing videos, blog posts, graphics, photos, and any other type of content that is interesting and relevant, while reinforcing your corporate brand and message at the same time. The content should be regularly added or updated to keep your audience coming back to learn more.
Don’t Be Pushy
This may seem counter-productive, since your goal is to market your business, after all, but it is important to keep in mind that your online fans and followers will be reluctant to connect with you if it seems like you always have a sales agenda. Focus on content and updates that are informative, helpful, and relevant, and people will keep coming back for more.
Getting started isn’t as hard as you think! Here a few more articles that will help you setup your accounts and get the most value from them:
- Handling Online Criticism
- Adding a “Favorite Pages” Box to Your Facebook Business Page
- Crank Up Your LinkedIn Account with Twitter for More Visibility
- Facebook Business Pages: What they do, and how to get one
- Is your Facebook URL hard to remember?
- How to get the most from Twitter
About the author: Jeune Ortiz is VP of Marketing and Creative Director at future-ink. With more than 20 years of experience in graphic design and marketing, Jeune brings extensive knowledge and creativity to each website and internet marketing solution to grow your business.
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