Thursday, 29 March 2012

How Your Small Business Can Post More Effectively on Social Media Sites

By Marie Elwood


When you want to begin marketing your small company, the top three social media sites you'll typically need to concentrate on are Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Each one of these three websites has a different personality , however, and if your business is going to reach folks more successfully, you've got to understand these different characters and adjust your advertising strategy appropriately.

The very first thing to understand is the general state of mind of the types of people who actively participate in each of these social media websites:

- Facebook users are typically looking for a relaxing way to connect with their pals and families. Most use Facebook to share personal updates on what they are doing and feeling, but others share links and information that demonstrates that they're smart, trendy, clever, and well-informed.

- LinkedIn visitors are usually serious, centered, and professional. In most cases, the personal information shared so casually on Facebook would be embarassingly out-of-place on LinkedIn. This is not, for example, the appropriate place for posting family photos, making strong religious or political statements, or swapping jokes.

- Twitter is an enormous, loud cocktail party, where everyone seems to be chatting all at once. The stream of conversation comes fast and furious from all different directions.

So how can you leverage each of these three social media sites to your best advantage?

If your business wants to share news, events, new product commercialization, and promotions with your target audience, vary your approach to fit the "personalities" of the varied social media internet sites and their users. On Facebook, feel free to be more casual, fun, and light-hearted. On LinkedIn, be buttoned-up and to-the-point. And on Twitter, you'll have to be sensational, sparkly, and provocative in order to break out in a noisy, cluttered environment.

In each case, take a couple of seconds to fastidiously think through the data you would like to present before you post it. Don't just whip out the very first thing that comes to mind. Be particularly clear on precisely what you need to get across- - and exactly what you want your target market to do or say as a consequence. Once you've targeted your message, shift your viewpoint. What would make this fascinating and valuable to your audience? What's going to get THEIR interest? Why will they care?

When you're certain what you need to say and structure it to the mindset of your audience, you are now ready to post on Facebook, LinkedIn, and/or Twitter. Be clear. Be compelling. And by respecting the various "personalities" of each social media site, you'll be on the right track to leveraging these tools more effectively. Try it today!




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment