Ordinary people, businesses and marketers use Twitter and Facebook for very diverse purposes. Some view these social networks as pure conversation portals, others as merely another sales channel, but neither extreme will be effective for the small business owner.
For business purposes, online social networking’s closest kin is the local business networking event. It’s an opportunity to meet people and begin building relationships that may lead to doing business somewhere down the road. You share interesting tidbits of information relevant to you or your business and useful to your market. But simply broadcasting your information is not enough. It’s just as important to engage in conversation.
- Ask questions.
- Respond to what others are saying.
- Retweet (resend or share) links from your followers that will also interest others in your audience.
- Share enough of your personal self to be seen as a real person, but not so much as to annoy your followers with your every move and thought.
Yes, we have seen relationships develop into sales via Twitter and Facebook. And don’t forget that Google, Bing, and many other smaller search engines index your public status updates. Those two points should be enough to convince even the busiest business owner to take a second look at making the most of both.
Ready to take the leap? Follow @ShariV on Twitter and fan Zero To Sixty Marketing LLC on Facebook
Image Credit: polandeze on flickr
Aren’t these social media networks really useful? They connect different people and it is very helpful for businesses.
Online Conversation has been really working wonders…. As I have been able to close some real good deal through some online collabaration site. You get to know more people and can try to expand your clientele
I think that social media networks are simply awesome. It keeps you updated about the world and it bridges the gap. I don’t think that using these networks are just for mere communication. It’s communicating with people and communication should not be taken for granted.
Great tips for businesses that use social media. I can’t tell you how many users on Twitter I see who just don’t get it. Every tweet is business related and self promoting, it’s akin to being the bore at a cocktail party. It’s about interacting, conversing, and sharing. Thanks for pointing that out.
I guess it all depends on how interesting the (automatic) business tweets are. If for example the tweets are updates / tips in relation to a hobby you have, then it is an alternative to following a RSS-feed. And its better than RSS because you can share the tweet with others. But “building a relationship” is in this situation not the case no.
I do agree that the combination of nice tips/news with personal stuff from someone that shares your hobby is the best. But these people are hard to find. And businesses that only tweet about their 1 product is totally annoying yes… also because they do not provide new information.
Social media network allow businesses to connect with both customers and other associated businesses. By linking to other businesses in the same or related fields, small businesses have the opportunity to form mutually beneficial alliances and cross promote.Social media is great coz it does not only connect people of different cultures and backgrounds but also aallows businesses to connect.