When it comes to our careers and professions, social media can be an exceptional tool for advancement. Not only does it connect you to other professionals, it offers a platform for you to share your expertise and knowledge, which can build trust and authority. You may feel that some social media is not for you or your business, and that’s perfectly fine!
However, if you’re simply not using Facebook because you don’t like Facebook, that’s not going to work in today’s digital world. If your target market is on Facebook, you need to be on Facebook. That’s a whole conversation you should have with your marketing team/consultant/agency, though, as there are many things to consider before deciding which platforms are best for promoting your business.
Whether you’re a social media veteran or new to the game, here are a few pointers to keep in mind:
1) Don’t forget that you’re still talking to people! Your long term success lies in how you treat people, in person or online. Cold calls, email spam, and rifle-blast messages to everyone on planet earth won’t work. This just annoys people and causes frustration, which is not the best way to start off a relationship.
Don’t forget that your reputation can be tarnished online. You may think it’s anonymous if you don’t know the person you’re emailing/harassing, but your employers and clients are online, too. Your conversations are not so private that they won’t be shared on social media should you be a pest.
2) Are you copy and pasting the same message over and over? That’s a sign that you may need better content. If this is a completely cold email, you should really customize each and every message you send. People can see through the copy/paste game, because we get hundreds of them every week! Others will delete them and report you as spam. That’s not where you want to be either, especially if you’re on a social media platform like LinkedIn or if your email server frowns upon spam (which most do).
3) Business pages and profiles on LinkedIn and Facebook used to be nice-to-have, but now they’re need-to-have. You can use your business pages to market to the LinkedIn and Facebook communities by telling your company’s story and offering something of value like industry or product tips and insight.
3.5) Social media is merely a tool, and the content you’re using to market yourself or your business still needs to be high quality. The bar just gets higher every year as more businesses and professionals catch on and realize they can’t post the same subpar content they’ve been spewing for years. It has to mean something now. The goal is to “infotain”: inform and entertain. If your content marketing is not achieving both, your content marketing efforts will be futile.
When it comes to marketing, many businesses and professionals can miss the mark. Your online presence is part of the buying process for today’s customers. Looking for more tips on LinkedIn and Facebook? Check out my slide deck from a workshop I gave for our local Chamber of Commerce. If you need some assistance with your messaging or just navigating the plethora of options online, get in touch! We’re here to help.