Do not be fooled by Social Media
Posted by Manuela Barreto @ April 15th, 2009 in New Media Tips
Many recent studies have proved that marketers employ some form of social media to market and promote their businesses. Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn and Facebook (in that order) are amongst the most popular networks often used by marketers according to a report by Michael Stelzner.
Some of the questions marketers raised about social media included, ‘What are the best tactics to use’, ‘How do I measure its effectiveness’ and last but not least, ‘Where do I start’.
Some marketers, however, are resistive to social media and have definitely not reached the mindset as 88% of respondents in the aforementioned survey have regardless of the massive buzz that has been generated.
Before marketers and agencies decide to plunge into social media, there are some factors that should not be overlooked. For instance, time and dedication. Handling social media is not just opening a page and making it pretty, or tweeting about what you’re doing right now. There’s plenty of work that needs to be done before your business gets up and running in the ’social’ ambiance.
Keep in mind that if you’re exposing yourself to your audience and potential consumers, you need to engage in conversation and follow what your followers are saying about you. It’s a two-way conversation and it’s important that you first listen carefully, then share your knowledge and ideas. Again, this is something that requires a lot of time, specially if your business is one that runs a blog. Not only should you listen, but also learn in order to lead with valuable information.
Equally so, if you’re a business or agency, know that you cannot possibly fake it to make it in social media. Not only is your online reputation an important issue to keep under complete control, but your entire company image is under the microscope the minute it goes live. And more importantly, practice what you preach.
To close, don’t just try to sell your product using social media. Engage with your audience, interact and open a door for them. It’s all about them, not you.
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i am often bumping about the internet almost all of the day as a result I choose...