|
|
Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! |
|
Using Social Networking To Your Company's Advantage
Written by: Greg GaskillArticle Overview: You probably will not attract paying customers overnight by signing up for a Facebook account, but ignoring the social networking venue would be a mistake. Social networking is not the place for a hard sell; think of the greater social networking marketplace as an enormous yet relaxed coffee shop atmosphere. We all have a story to tell, but "shouting" it repeatedly turns most off.
![]() |
Free Download - Community Pages and Good Landing Pages By Greg Gaskill |
Using Social Networking To Your Company's Advantage
If you have paid even the smallest amount of attention to
emerging trends in online business marketing, then you have surely heard about
social networking websites like Facebook. These sites' primary function is to
keep people connected to the family, friends and coworkers in their lives. The
interface of a site like Facebook is quite clean and clutter free; it is also
very fluid and intuitive, allowing people to share items of interests with
their friends; post pictures; and comment on practically anything imaginable
while doing so.
To remain competitive, then, it is important that you give your company a
presence on a site like Facebook. Setting up a basic account there is free;
however, just the act of opening an account on Facebook by no means guarantees
any sort of immediate gains. Adding people to your friends' list can be onerous
and quite time consuming, but when done correctly, you will have a large and
varied selection of people to share your message with in an easy, unobtrusive
way.
Being unobtrusive is, in fact, one of the biggest draws to a site like
Facebook. Unlike many other sites that scream at you with loud ads and effects,
Facebook relies on understated, clean cut appearances to make itself heard. The
same goes for people who participate on the site; those who choose to buck the
prevailing trend and spam their friends almost always end up getting blocked -
the same as, essentially, hanging up the phone on an irritating telemarketer.
When marketing your business using a site like Facebook, the last thing you
want to do is alienate your customers by getting in their faces and lambasting
them with news about your products and services. Study how others communicate
on the site to get a feel for how to subtly get your point across. The goal is
to keep the friends that you have - and to keep them from blocking status
updates and other news from you. Therefore, keep the information relevant,
interesting and not annoying.
Selling your company image and expanding your customer base are great goals to
have when setting up a Facebook account for your business. However, like any
other type of advertising, make sure you are adding people who would truly be
interested in what you have to offer. Familiarize yourself with how to search
through people on Facebook to narrow down your results to the demographics that
matter most to your company. Add easy to use buttons on your main company
website so that visitors can add you on Facebook with a simple click of the
mouse button.
In addition to interacting with existing and potentially new customers,
Facebook is an excellent resource for keeping in the loop as far as your
company's industry goes. Therefore, make sure to add peers from within your own
industry to keep yourself as up to date as possible on any emerging trends or
important news. This is also a great way of getting new ideas for conducting
yourself on Facebook; see how other companies are going about it to find
innovative new ways of using Facebook to its best possible effect.
By taking your time when joining a social networking site like Facebook, you
can use it to maximize your company's marketing efforts. Learn how to become a
part of the culture on these sorts of sites, so that your company fits in. At
the same time, keep it interesting so that your message doesn't get drowned
out. Strike a good balance, and you will see huge payoffs.
Article Tags: business marketing, coworkers, div, draws, endif, facebook, family friends, fareast, footer, gte, mso, orphan, paper source, prevailing trend, social networking, style definitions, time consuming, times new roman, xml, zoom
|
About the Author: Greg Gaskill RSS for Greg's articles - Visit Greg's website Greg Gaskill, President, Mr-SEO.com. Helping businesses succeed online http://www.mr-seo.com 800-613-1821 Click here to visit Greg's website Open Comments for Business Blogs Yea or Nay Website Usability what does it mean for your revenue Be Wary of Black Hat SEO Over Connecting Avoid A Reputation Online Equivalent To The One Of A Real Life Jerk |
Related Forum Posts
Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.
Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.
Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Resistance to Change and How to Deal With It
Fighting the Saw-Tooth Affect
Selling On Ebay The Good The Bad And The Ugly
Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.



