Social Media Involvement

More small businesses are asking us what they can do to get more involved in social media. I commend them for realizing how important it is for their brand as well as for understanding what consumers are saying about them or their product/service. The first thing I tell a customer about social media is that “you get out what you put in”, meaning, the more time you spend engaging people the more benefit you will get out of social media on a Personal, Educational, and Business level.

Personal level

Most married people talk about their kids while most single people talk about where they are going for the evening. These are all personal social media communication traits. Most Businesses unfortunately talk about how great they are. Businesses don’t understand that no one (or business for that matter) wants to hear how great someone (or something) is. The rule of thumb for businesses engaging in social media, you only talk about your business 25% of the time. The other time spent on social business is not about you. its about the community. Say something productive, value oriented, and unbiased. Become a productive member of your social media network. Talk about what is going on in your community, schools, government. Share pictures of yourself, family, and friends. Be active in your social network.

Educational

To me, this is the best aspect of social media. I personally love how people post articles that they have read and have re-tweated or posted that article’s URL in their status update on Linked-In or on Facebook. I spend half of my day reading and learning about the topics that matter most to me and my clients. I am able to stay ahead of the proverbial “curve”, and look as things unfold in the social media marketing world. I stay active in this community because I see the benefit it is having on other people. I get responses like “thanks for sharing”, “how do you feel about that article”, “I learned something new today”, and many others. I am involved in the educational aspect of social media and I see the benefits it provides not only myself in my knowledge growth but also my friends, colleagues, and clients.

Business

Because of my personal and educational involvement in social media, my business has flourished. I am connecting with people and companies that need my services. We are having open discussions about which online marketing strategies work and which ones don’t work. I am landing new clients in a time where most people are losing clients. I am meeting new strategic partners and am aligning myself with talented creative and marketing consultants who want to work with me and my clients. I know that at the end of the day, I will get out of social media what I put into it. So what are you doing with social media?