5 quick ways to use social media to help promote business
March 9, 2011 4:46 pm | Published by Next HorizonRecently updated on November 17th, 2022
Social Media is everywhere online and it seems like everyone and their grandmother has some form of presence online through one of the many social media sites available. Social Media has made it possible for anyone anywhere to find out about almost anything online. But how can it be applied to business?
It comes as no surprise then that businesses themselves are incorporating social media in some form or another.
While not everyone may want to know what your CEO had for lunch or that your secretary watched an all-night marathon of Bridezilla, it stands to reason that these sites can benefit in some way or another from social media.
Below are 5 quick ways to use social media and how your business can take advantage of it to help promote business.
Facebook currently has 500 million users and is rapidly growing. This is potentially the largest audience that any business could hope to reach out to.
Start off small and create a profile page for the company, place some basic information, and link to it from your site. Invite customers and colleagues to become fans. Then as you start to grow you can add new content in the form of new product information, upcoming events, and industry-related content.
Twitter allows you to let your customers know what is going on with your company right now. You can stream Tweets from Twitter to your Facebook or LinkedIn account and even to your own website.
Use your tweets to let customers know about a new promotion or sale happening, announcements for new products and services, and any relevant information you think the customer would want to know now.
This site is more of a community for professionals and businesses who exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. You can easily connect with past and present colleagues and network with other business professionals who can become potential customers, exchange advice, and make introductions to other professionals. Networking on LinkedIn is also a great way to receive referral traffic to your website.
YouTube
Who doesn’t like to watch videos? YouTube is one of the highest-trafficked sites on the web, allowing billions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos. Creating a YouTube account is free and once you have an account you can start posting videos relevant to your company and industry, or something to spark interest in a product or service.
Blog
Business blogs provide your business the opportunity to share your company’s knowledge and experience with a larger audience. Blog software is easy to use and simple for anyone to write their thoughts, link to resources, and share information about their company. Blogging is also an affordable solution to gaining higher search engine rankings because search engines feed off of content and what better way to feed out lots of content than with a blog.
There are many other social media sites and options that could be added to this list, but the examples mentioned above are the strongest, easiest, and most affordable options when it comes to branching out into the social media universe. Start off with one and work on producing quality content and once you get into a steady rhythm you can branch out to the other options.
I hope this article was helpful; if you have any questions regarding social media and its benefits to online business, feel free to check our social media marketing page!
