Believe it or not, social networking offers you a way to develop some good strong business connections while it also gives you a chance to do a little branding for the localized online market. Of course, while we don’t call it social networking advertising that is essentially what we are doing when we use this particular platform in order to help increase our website’s sales. But since we can’t just toss out any old advertisement, we have to be creative, personable, interpersonal, and if at all possible and appropriate, fun.
Social media give you a chance to build up some new business contacts as well as develop some new and interesting advertising methods. Since social networking is a relationship based way of communicating about your business, you are going to want to spend a little time developing a little of that personable rapport with other users. You do this through your wall.
Some people will use the site under a personal account first just to get the hang of working the site, using the features, and understanding the basic settings. Your contacts should be people that are either in the business end of social networking or those that have some sort of vested interest in the product or service that your site offers.While they may not need your products or services today, they might next week.
You might start by telling everyone the daily temperature in Aruba when the mean temperature here is barely 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Or you could boast about the great ski conditions in Colorado throughout the early winter months for those who have an interest in the downhill or cross country skiing packages that you can put together. Remember that it is not straight up advertising but general messaging, which means it is more relaxed and less directive.
Social networking offers some very unique methods of getting the word out about your business and the potential for branding is very good. What makes it so challenging, and therefore fun and interesting, is that you have all kinds of new and unusual ways that you are allowed to get the word out about your business while traditional advertisements are basically frowned upon. This gives you the chance to really grab some serious positive attention from other business minded users.
Post an icon on your website for each of the major social networtking personas that you develop. People who visit your website are already interested in your market, so make it simple for them to follow you on Twitter, for example, by posting a follow my tweets button that they can use to get to your Twitter home page.
Keeping your social networking efforts as part of your daily commitment to growing your business can be challenging when other advertising methods seem like that are so much easier. The reality is that they aren’t any easier and in fact could be considered more difficult. Once you get the hang of it, social networking advertising methods can be very effective in only about ten to fifteen minutes per day.
While social networking is a fun and effective way to get your business out there, there are additional tricks of the trade to help you get started with a bang. Learn all you can about advertising in this manner.
