Did You Just Say Social Media Marketing?

So yes, you've signed up with a fancy blog name and you've got a Twitter handle and you have a Facebook page and a Linkedin account.. Phew! That's quite a bit of social media to start on. Forget the Digg and the Stumble upon and the rest of the lot. But if you could be regular on just the channels that you've started out with you'd have a lot more people engaging with you. Else it's like saying I've got a office in up town market, but I am available there only once a week. Rest of the time, I am unreachable. That's not fair. When you hand out a business card you shouldn't have your phone number there if you don't want to be called. Same goes with your social media.

Do Not Boast About Your Social Media Presence If You Do Not Intend to Broadcast/ Interact Over the Same.

Social Media Channels are meant to socialize, to interact with your social contacts. By extending it to your business you are allowing your business contacts to interact. But that in turn means your business which is run by you interacts with them. Just posting updates once a week does not amount to social media marketing. You need to be able get people to engage back with you. That is more like it.

Here's an example. Let's say you are an IT services outsourcing company and have just written a case study about your last successful project. Posting an update about the same on Facebook ain't going to get you a lot of credit. However, posting the same to Linkedin would make more sense. For Facebook you could post the pics from the project handover party that your team attended. Now that makes sense. Choosing the right media channel for the right kind of content is very important. Alternately, live tweeting about what's happening at a event you are attending makes sense. It allows your prospective clients, clients and other business contacts an insight into the event, allows you to share your thoughts and even provides a stream for live parallel discussion with other attendees. That sure works.

There's a lot more that social media can do for your business, however, not all of it can be put down in a single post. Also, I am learning the social media trade myself. So I'll keep you posted and in the loop as I experiment in the intriguing world of social media. Lookout for more social media learnings in this space.


Copyright (c) 2011 Pranam Shetye