Social media is the new digital frontier for advancing business and attracting new customers. Business owners can do themselves a huge favor by taking advantage of the benefits that social media offers. However, using social media to improve your business and reach more customers has to be done the right way.
A bad showing on the Internet can do serious damage to even the best company’s reputation. Trying too hard to boost profits, getting defensive in response to poor online reviews, and delivering low quality content can be detrimental.
Making smart social media decisions, however, can be a major boon to business by helping owners and employees connect with customers on a more personal level.
Here are four smart ways to improve social media efforts.
Increase engagement
Social media exists is to allow businesses (and private individuals) to connect with customers on a more personal level than normal business communication may allow. Customers appreciate, and take advantage of, social media sites because it makes businesses easier to engage with — in non-monetary terms.
Every business owner should use social media to interact with customers. Take advantage of various tools available on the Internet—including video and photo sharing—in order to provide interesting content and to communication with potential customers. Meanwhile, social media coupons and special deals can help attract more customers, so don’t be afraid to share perks with your biggest fans.
Be Honest and Authentic
As much as social media can benefit businesses, it is important to use social media in an honest way. This simply means, your social media interactions should not be solely about gaining profit; rather, companies should seek to provide a beneficial experience. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box with social media content (i.e., being quirkier is often more interesting and unique than formal communication.)
However, being honest and authentic in expanding your social media presence doesn’t mean efforts should be limited. Become more active with customer and community outreach. Most importantly, be personable in communications to demonstrate your company values and culture.
Protect your Social Presence
Because social media content is often produced outside of the office, or by a third party, it makes sense to use additional security like that offered by a virtual private network (VPN). By definition, a VPN extends a private network across a public network, such as the Internet.
It enables a computer to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if it were directly connected to the private network, while benefiting from the functionality, security and management policies of the private network. The security of your social media account information is essential to preclude social media identity theft, account hacks, etc.
Drive Quality Leads to a Company Blog
Don’t forget to tie all social media marketing efforts into your overall marketing strategy. Social media posts can include links to your company website or blog. If you don’t yet have a company blog, start one and ensure the design has the same look and feel as your company website, by choosing from high quality WordPress themes. Once your company blog is active, link back to it, often, from preferred social networks. Also, don’t forget to add social sharing buttons to blog posts and encourage readers to share your content.
Anny Solway is a dedicated writer at ThemeFuse – a leader in the premium WordPress themes area. She likes to discover new ideas about internet marketing, social media and blogging. Connect with ThemeFuse on Twitter.
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