So...you've created a social media account on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Tumblr,Google+, Pinterest, Formspring, and you have no idea what you are doing. You'vegot lots of ideas, or maybe a few, but have no idea how to promote yourself or whento do so.
Social media can be a pretty tricky beast, but once you identify the things to focuson you can become successful.
Pick When to Post
Just like with email, you want to hit the most active parts of the day. Morning,and afternoon, when your audience gets up and has their cup of coffee, and whenthey are settling down for a nice hot lunch or working on the treadmill at the gym.
Social media has the luxury of reaching contacts where ever they go. Unlike email,it doesn't require you to sit down in one place and consume finely tailored content.Instead, social media posts to Twitter and Facebook encourage readers to just getbites of what they need.
The first step to creating social media content that people care about is understandingyour audience.
Write Stories that People Want to Hear
You can't just focus on what interests you. A post to Twitter, Facebook,or LinkedIn should be engaging and spur conversation around an issue. This doesn'tmean you should just come up with problems to talk about, but it does mean thatyou should think of timely topics that matter. Using this tactic, you can make social media posting a natural part of your everydayactivities. You don't have to confine it to just one space--the workplace. Are youfollowing a Twitter account that posted an interesting article? Why not write aboutit as well! Do you have an opinion on a trending topic? Now is the time to get activeand share it. The trick is to engage your followers with as much relevant contentas possible, because let's face it, most of us do not have the resources to post"fresh" articles all of the time.
Engage in Conversation No one tweets in a vacuum. One of my clients made the mistake of thinking they shouldnever post on social media until they get followers. Well, how exactly do peopleget followers in the first place? Think about Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin groups,as opportunities to get your message out there and start conversations. Don't justpost signs and walk away. A big part of becoming a thought-leader is abouthaving the willingness to open up and have a conversation about what people wantand need on a daily basis.
Post Relevant Links Don't be afraid to post links to support your discussions. Don't be afraid to postlinks from your competitors. The tricky thing with social media is avoiding over-saturation--butat the same time, if you're going to have the "gift of gab" you have to prove youknow what your talking about and give people a reason to follow your account. Thinkabout reasons why you follow a particular Twitter account. If someone can act asa resource for business, career, or personal interests and then add some usefulinfo to back it up, then this increases the utility of their Twitter account...andmakes their tweets so much more important.
When it's all said in done, running a proper social media account to bolster yourmarketing efforts is all about taking your audience seriously and showing them thatyou care about more than just the products you are trying to sell. Never forgetthat people join social media networks to learn about things that they love. Providesome structure for them and some guidelines to act as a resource, and you'll neverrun out of steam.
