Social media has become one of the most important networking tools for today’s small business. Companies use social media to not only reach new customers and get exposure, they also use their social media channels to retain existing customers. By keeping your presence on social media, you are keeping your brand top of mind, compared to your competition. There are plenty of free or inexpensive ways to build your social media circles, first by engaging those you know to join your social media business page. Google Plus pages for business are important because these are the pages that Google bases your local information on.
Small Business Social Media Tip 1 – Learn how to market your business on social media. Even if you intend to use traditional marketing avenues, social media is an important part of reaching your prospective customers. You need to be on as many social media sites as you can. The top social media sites to have a business presence on are Facebook Pages, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Yelp – but try to keep up with them. Follow important people and businesses in your industry. This will show relevance and will keep you up on industry trends.
Small Business Social Media Tip 2 – Only take on Social Media you can manage. Know how much time and effort you can dedicate to social media activities and budget your time to the ones you can manage. Nothing is worse than a social media account that is not interacted with or constantly updated. Applications like HootSuite, TweetDeck, TwitterFeed are tools that help you to manage all your social media posts in one location on various sites.
Small Business Social Media Tip 3 – Interact with your partners and customers. Remember that social media is not a one-way street. You need to interact and engage the people who follow you and support your small business. Ask your followers what they want you to provide them with. If you see a good post by someone who is following you, be sure to comment, like it, share it, or re-tweet. These gestures will show them you are also following them – and what is important to them is also important to you.
Small Business Social Media Tip 4 – Kiss (Keep It Simple Silly). Do not complicate the posts you send out over social media. Make them relevant and valuable to those who follow you. Without value, they will not follow you. Engaging your audience is one thing, but try to keep your content to what your audience expects from your business.
Small Business Social Media Tip 5 – Offer value. Your followers follow you for a reason. If you do not give them a reason to follow you, the will simply unsubscribe. If you are offering contests, keep them going and be sure to let followers know that someone has won and there are other contests planned for the future. Telsec has done a number of contest and because we engage our audience, they continue to follow us for our content and advice.
For more information and tips for small business, read this blog. Link to previous blog about small business.
Telsec is currently running a contest to give away 3 Android Tablets. Here is how you can enter. For each of the methods of entry you do, you will be entered in the draw. The more methods you choose, the more entries you will have to win one of the prizes.
Methods of entry
- Follow us on Google Plus Google.com/+TelsecNet
- Add yourself to one of our Google Plus circles
- +1 on one of our Google Plus Postings
- Write a comment on one of our Google Plus posting
- Share one of our Blog post by clicking the +1 button to share with your Google Plus circles
- Use the facebook like button on our blog
- Share one of our blog posts to your social media or like by
- Write a comment on one of our many blogs
If you are already an office space tenant or a virtual office client with Telsec and you have a google account, you can get a bonus entry by posting a review on our Google local profile.
Important Rules
• Do Not Spam or your entries will be void
• Do Not refer to the contest when posting on our Google Plus page
Contest Closes December 19, 2013. The winners will be selected later that day.