Harnessing the power of social media
Donald Melville, adviser with Business Gateway Argyll and Bute, shares some top tips on how to use social media to boost your profile
SOCIAL media is an essential part of business communication these days - the digital equivalent to wordof-mouth referrals.
It provides a platform to create and distribute information and opens a dialogue with prospective and existing customers using various platforms.
Many businesses, however, don’t utilise social media in the best way and are missing out on its benefits.
Let’s start with the basics; what do you want to achieve with your social media? Do you want to broadcast information, be conversational or more customer service based? This will determine how to use your social media account; what content you put up, how much you listen and how you react to online engagement.
It can be used for customer service, feedback, attracting new customers and increasing sales - but remember that selling is always a by-product of successful engagement.
Facebook is a popular, mainly business-to-consumer platform that is easy to use and free. A vital part of Facebook is engagement. Try to post regularly to keep your account looking active and up-to-date. Write content that will get people to engage with it, for example if you post a picture, ask people to comment.
Twitter is mainly business-to-business and is known as an information sharing network, making it fantastic for businesses to get the word out. Key concepts of Twitter are; favourites, lists, trends, and discover.
Be sure to take part in popular Twitter initiatives such as Follow Friday (#FF) and remember that it’s nice to be nice, so thank all who have re-tweeted/ #FF’d you in a reply tweet.
LinkedIn is a social networking site for professionals to showcase their skills and network with others. When inviting people to connect on LinkedIn make sure to state how you know them, as a more personal yet professional message is more likely to result in a connection than the standard message. Make sure to keep your skills upto-date with a professional profile pic that is easy to see for anyone viewing your profile.
Some key points to keep in mind:
- Choosing the right platform is vital. Make sure you use a social media platform that you know your customers use.
- You don’t need a presence on every platform.
- It’s about engagement, not selling.
- Don’t forget about your profile and keep it as up-todate as possible.
Business Gateway runs regular workshops on social media and provides a range of guides to using social media on the bgateway. com website.