1. Do not start more than you can manage
Who said you must be on every social media channel? Although the more, the better, it is the quality of your social activity online that counts, not just existing in virtual spaces that are too many to manage. Here is your tip number one: choose the social media you want to exist in, depending on what they can offer and what suits you best. Of course the most popular Facebook and Twitter are perhaps your unquestionable top choices but stay calm: you do not need to jump in any new or available social channel if you know how to be successful in managing several major accounts.
2. Learn what to post and share
What to publish is the most essential question of your social media activity. Naturally, promotional content is your first idea, and it is not a bad one as long as you can limit self-advertising to healthy proportions. In short, whatever you publish should fit the social character of the media. Be an expert and be helpful: share things useful to others, such as advice, or articles and videos reflecting yours and your followers' common interests, related to your professional area. Posting job offers is also a great option, as is providing your followers a glimpse into the community based social events organised by your company.
3. Know what is happening around youIf you want to create a strong community feeling, you should be aware of what is happening around you and what touches your public. If there are any natural disasters or other catastrophes, you should engage in expressing empathy with the followers. Do not miss out on the joyful events, either, though. Holidays and celebrations unite people as much as tragedies do and you should signal your presence in all these moments.
4. Create your virtual social image
Your online social identity is more than the company name. All that you say and post gives your followers a feel of who you are. It is crucial that you stay consistent in how you express yourself, or rather your company, through your messages. An integral company image is one your public will trust. Analyse your corporate culture to make your online company-self reflect it. Do not forget to discuss the social media content and strategy in building self-image with your employees to ensure that whoever publishes content reinforces the desired picture of your firm.
5. Don't be a monopolist on your company social media account
Unless you are a self-employed worker and the only representative of your company, you should refrain from monopolizing the access to its social media accounts. Instead, engage your employees in creating and sharing content and brainstorming ideas together. After all, you do want to show the human side of your enterprise and this is the right place to do that. However, make sure everyone understands the company's social media policy and knows how to use the agreed upon tactics to contribute to the broad picture effectively.
6. Be social, act social
Chances are that while striving for new contacts and popularity among the public, you have completely forgotten what people out of business use social media for. Keep the social, the human aspect of the media in mind, and make your every online activity prove that you are empathetic, helpful and genuinely interested in other people. The best thing to do that is to interact with others meaningfully. Participate in relevant discussions, follow your own followers, and reach out to find new potential ones.
7. Reply comments
Your followers' comments should be replied. You do not want to appear as a bunch of anonymous agents hiding behind a corporate brand, or as people whose sole purpose is to promote it. What you want is to show that you respect everyone's opinions and appreciate the interest that anybody, not just your client, has in your activity. Reply also the negative comments and complaints. Moreover, be proactive: track the bad opinions and monitor your company's image on the social media. Do not overreact excessively apologizing or ignoring and insulting your commentators. Rather, inform them briefly who should be contacted for complaints or simply pass the message to that person.
8. Gain new members of your community
If you want to grow, you cannot stand in one place. Move around the networks you participate in, follow and contact potential customers. Be inviting, not pushy. Also, you should make best use of social media monitoring platforms to track any mentions of your company on the channel and contact their authors. One example of such a tool is ExactTarget Marketing Cloud.
9. Moderation is the keyPublishing a comment once per week may not be enough to promote your company effectively, but neither is sharing tens of items daily. You should plan the frequency of making contact with your social media world as well as the amount of information you send each time. It is usually better to send short comments or Twits; they are more likely to be read, shared and replied and do not require much time to write. They also show you as someone who does not waste the followers' time with useless content. Engaging in online activity with moderate frequency makes your opinions more valued and noticeable. There is really nothing more torturing for social media users than over-sharing.
10. Entertain and use humor carefully
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Humor is a very important element of successful communication and promotion. If you are not confident whether your public will like your jokes, tune them down at first. It is better to be careful than offending your audience unintentionally at the very start. Once you gain more confidence and make sure that your joking style is consistent and well understood, do not exaggerate with the amount of humor you post. A joke now and then is a good thing, but you need to stay objective and maintain your authority as a professional. Finally, if your jokes do not work, invest some time and creativity in providing users with other entertainment such as simple games and competitions.
Social networks are a great source of marketing opportunities but you need to know how to use them. Bad social media habits can lead to your marketing disaster, therefore bear in mind the above tips and most of all: maintain balance in everything.Author Bio
This article is by Jack Wieczorek from EduInfo.
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