Taking Your Social Media to the Next Level: Part I

Social media is here to stay. We:

* Twitter, in 140 characters or less, what we are doing.
* Post updates, pictures, movies and more in Facebook.
* Answer questions and make connections in LinkedIn.
* Blog and participate in other social media efforts.

What do we gain by these efforts? An increase in business?  More Facebook Fans? Engaged customers?

First, let’s make sure you’re participating in social media. Your company should be using some – if not all – of the following social media tools:

• Facebook. There are currently over 300 million active accounts in Facebook. Individuals create Profiles. Businesses create Pages.
  Task: Conduct a search for your competition in Facebook. Are they actively participating? How many Fans do they have?
  
  Twitter. Keep your customers and clients up-to-date on your business’ daily activities, news, tips, service, help, FAQs, etc.
  Task: Start a Twitter account and search for topics of interest to find people to follow. Observe and then participate.
  
  LinkedIn. If you do not have a LinkedIn account, you need to start one today. Participating in the Answers section helps your status as an authority in your field.
  Task: Create an Individual LinkedIn account and a Business account.
  
  Blog. A must in today’s online efforts. If your company doesn’t have a blog, you need to start one...now!
  Task: Start a blog today.
  
  YouTube. If YouTube were a search engine, it would be the second largest one, behind Google. Your company should create a YouTube Channel for educational, promotional and sales videos.
  Task: Search YouTube for videos in your industry.
  
  Second, if your company is already participating in any of the above social media tools (or similar efforts), it’s time to take your social media presence to the next level. This process is called “social media optimization.”
  
  With Social Media Optimization (SMO), there are similar comparisons to SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Strategic SMO tactics can drive huge amounts of traffic to your website.
  
  Ultimately, there are two primary goals with SMO:
  
  * When searching Google for your company name, brand, products, services, etc., all search results in the Top 10 should be either your company’s website (a result of SEO) or your social media pages/accounts (a result of SMO).
  
  For example, your company’s Facebook Page, Twitter account, LinkedIn account, blog, and website pages should all be listed in the Top 10 search results in Google.
  
  * Customers and clients should  be able to find your business in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., when searching by targeted keywords, events, brand, company name, etc.
  
  For example, if you are a sheet metal supplier in Indiana, then potential customers should be able to find you through social media searches on the keyword “Indiana sheet metal suppliers.”
  
  Of course, other goals could be customer service; handling complaints, etc. All-in-all, by participating in this space, you will be engaging with potential customers or with current customers.
  
  So, where do you begin “optimizing” your social media efforts? How do you take it to the next level and leave the Social Media 101 class in the dust?  It starts with your company name, your brand name, your products and services and, more importantly, it begins with targeted keywords and content.
  
  Remember whether you are in the B2C (Business to Consumer) industry or B2B (Business to Business) industry, all interactions are B2P (business to person). Social media allows your company to build stronger relationships with individuals to help grow business.    
  
  Taking Your Social Media to the Next Level: Part II