We’re all in business for a reason. Some may have a mission, some may have sales goals, but the one thing we all need is interested people. Without people discovering us and if they need our products and services and then sharing our capabilities with others, our businesses wouldn’t succeed.
One of the most fascinating advancements to help businesses has been social media because it makes it so easy now for anyone including your friends to follow and share your pages, blog posts, videos and tweets.
The true problem today is… is anyone actually seeing what you’re writing?
“Social” Media is exactly that, social. If no one is engaged in the discussion by commenting or sharing your information with others, there’s nothing “social” about it. Then you are just talking into the wind.
We also have the added problem of an overload of community websites, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, FourSquare, InterNations, and the list continues.
So here are a few tips that I guarantee will help engage more people. When there are more responses, there’s more interest, and more interest leads to more clients and customers.
1- From today onward when you add a post to Facebook, I want you to tag 1-2 people who you think will want to discuss your topic. Without tagging, no one may see the post, and by actually tagging, you are asking those people to comment. This is how Facebook becomes social instead of a list of random thoughts. In addition when you tag others, your post appears on those people’s walls as well as your own and this gives you an even bigger chance of engagement. (To tag someone, you must of course either be friends, or have liked their fan/company/cause page. Just type @ (and then the name.)
2- When it comes to Twitter, the true way people discover your tweets are through searches. The #hashtag is a great way for your posts to come up in those searches. So before you send out the next tweet, do a search on a few hashtags, find the ones that will help others find you, and see who is using them (to connect) and be sure to include different ones or the same one in every post. For example: some of the tags I use in different tweets are, #brand #branding #creative #socialmedia #entrepreneur #startups #biz #art #artists and for my environmental cause I might use, #ecofriendly #eco #green #frogs #amphibians. You get the idea.
I also highly recommend buying and downloading “TweetAdder”, once set up (and I have a tutorial video on this) it’ll really help you find others and them find you. Plus, you’ll have the added bonus of all the functionality it can do, saving you lots of time.
3- If you have a blog, I recommend adding the “Tweet Old Posts” plugin. Once set up, it will breathe new life into all the posts on your blog, sending out tweets directing people to them. Also install “Kstats Reloaded”, and it will give great stats on your blog visitors and interaction in Social Media. (Extensive WordPress series of posts with Tips and Videos!)
4- If you are ignoring LinkedIn, wake up! This social media “business” community is the largest of it’s kind for entrepreneurs and professionals of all industries. There are so many amazing ways to reach thousands of people easily. Not only can you search by company, company type and job titles but the “groups” section is one of the most powerful areas. You can search the groups for say “social media” and it will show all the groups and how many members each has. So let’s say you join a group and it has 100,000 members. You can start a discussion and it will be posted in the group, but will also be emailed to all or most (depending on their settings) members. The potential for how many targeted, like-minded individuals you can reach in one post in unreal. Watch this video tutorial on the groups section, and join a group today.
5- FourSquare? Okay not too many people that I know are yet into this one, but it sure is a nice idea to help out your local businesses. When you recommend a shop or bakery and give a shout out, what better way to have them know you and remember you as well as do a nice thing for them.
So remember “social” media is just that, social. Without the interaction, it’s not going to work at all.
Social Media Business Effectiveness: Tips For Engaging Interaction
We’re all in business for a reason. Some may have a mission, some may have sales goals, but the one thing we all need is interested people. Without people discovering us and if they need our products and services and then sharing our capabilities with others, our businesses wouldn’t succeed.
One of the most fascinating advancements to help businesses has been social media because it makes it so easy now for anyone including your friends to follow and share your pages, blog posts, videos and tweets.
The true problem today is… is anyone actually seeing what you’re writing?
“Social” Media is exactly that, social. If no one is engaged in the discussion by commenting or sharing your information with others, there’s nothing “social” about it. Then you are just talking into the wind.
We also have the added problem of an overload of community websites, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, FourSquare, InterNations, and the list continues.
So here are a few tips that I guarantee will help engage more people. When there are more responses, there’s more interest, and more interest leads to more clients and customers.
1- From today onward when you add a post to Facebook, I want you to tag 1-2 people who you think will want to discuss your topic. Without tagging, no one may see the post, and by actually tagging, you are asking those people to comment. This is how Facebook becomes social instead of a list of random thoughts. In addition when you tag others, your post appears on those people’s walls as well as your own and this gives you an even bigger chance of engagement. (To tag someone, you must of course either be friends, or have liked their fan/company/cause page. Just type @ (and then the name.)
2- When it comes to Twitter, the true way people discover your tweets are through searches. The #hashtag is a great way for your posts to come up in those searches. So before you send out the next tweet, do a search on a few hashtags, find the ones that will help others find you, and see who is using them (to connect) and be sure to include different ones or the same one in every post. For example: some of the tags I use in different tweets are, #brand #branding #creative #socialmedia #entrepreneur #startups #biz #art #artists and for my environmental cause I might use, #ecofriendly #eco #green #frogs #amphibians. You get the idea.
I also highly recommend buying and downloading “TweetAdder”, once set up (and I have a tutorial video on this) it’ll really help you find others and them find you. Plus, you’ll have the added bonus of all the functionality it can do, saving you lots of time.
3- If you have a blog, I recommend adding the “Tweet Old Posts” plugin. Once set up, it will breathe new life into all the posts on your blog, sending out tweets directing people to them. Also install “Kstats Reloaded”, and it will give great stats on your blog visitors and interaction in Social Media. (Extensive WordPress series of posts with Tips and Videos!)
4- If you are ignoring LinkedIn, wake up! This social media “business” community is the largest of it’s kind for entrepreneurs and professionals of all industries. There are so many amazing ways to reach thousands of people easily. Not only can you search by company, company type and job titles but the “groups” section is one of the most powerful areas. You can search the groups for say “social media” and it will show all the groups and how many members each has. So let’s say you join a group and it has 100,000 members. You can start a discussion and it will be posted in the group, but will also be emailed to all or most (depending on their settings) members. The potential for how many targeted, like-minded individuals you can reach in one post in unreal. Watch this video tutorial on the groups section, and join a group today.
5- FourSquare? Okay not too many people that I know are yet into this one, but it sure is a nice idea to help out your local businesses. When you recommend a shop or bakery and give a shout out, what better way to have them know you and remember you as well as do a nice thing for them.
So remember “social” media is just that, social. Without the interaction, it’s not going to work at all.