Getting started with Social Media
With so many social tools available and quickly changing, you might ask which ones do I use for my business? To answer that you really want to look at social media as one tool for building relationships with communities both large and small. Think of what features you would like to use to build these relationships. It it blogging? Video? Chat? Feedback? Quick status updates? Once you decide on your goals then you can start using the features within your social media tool to get the result you want. I have heard many customers want to use the tools just because they're there, but this would be a waste of time and resources especially if you don't have the time to invest. There are many examples out therejust ike this. Am I right?
Now as an example, everyone knows Microsoft's Office program. It's a tool used by many to draft documents. There is a spell check feature as well as a feature to merge mailing lists into a form letter. Granted, some of these features aren't used at all. It's the same with social media. Use what you need. Build the relationships with the people in your network. Community size isn't the end goal. Rather, it's an engaged community.
Once you decide on the features, you can then use the tools available. For blogging, it maybe Wordpress or Blogger. For Realtime feedback, you might want to use Facebook or Twitter. I suggest designing your social media system to fit "two sizes bigger" than what you need. What I mean by this is that you might want to use Plaxo, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube, and Blogger. However, you might not be ready for Youtube or Blogger. What you can do is set an account at the onset and point users to your active communites. When you're ready, you can start buidling value added content and introducing the new social media features to your active communities on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Plaxo. Having a wholistic view allows you to design your social media system with the appropriate branding and accounts with ease.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for our next blog entry.
Have a wonderful holiday season.
Be safe.
Ulysses
Now as an example, everyone knows Microsoft's Office program. It's a tool used by many to draft documents. There is a spell check feature as well as a feature to merge mailing lists into a form letter. Granted, some of these features aren't used at all. It's the same with social media. Use what you need. Build the relationships with the people in your network. Community size isn't the end goal. Rather, it's an engaged community.
Once you decide on the features, you can then use the tools available. For blogging, it maybe Wordpress or Blogger. For Realtime feedback, you might want to use Facebook or Twitter. I suggest designing your social media system to fit "two sizes bigger" than what you need. What I mean by this is that you might want to use Plaxo, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube, and Blogger. However, you might not be ready for Youtube or Blogger. What you can do is set an account at the onset and point users to your active communites. When you're ready, you can start buidling value added content and introducing the new social media features to your active communities on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Plaxo. Having a wholistic view allows you to design your social media system with the appropriate branding and accounts with ease.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for our next blog entry.
Have a wonderful holiday season.
Be safe.
Ulysses
Comments