Using Social Media For Your Business: A Beginner’s Guide

If you’re a small business owner in 2011, there is no doubt that you’ve heard the same advice time and time again: your business should be implementing social media in its marketing strategy. However, for many business owners who have been around for a long time, words like "Facebook,” "Twitter,” "LinkedIn,” "Blogs,” and more can be confusing and seem irrelevant to your marketing approach. Unfortunately for these owners, the advice is true: regardless of what industry you are in, social media is in fact one of the most effective ways to market your business in this day and age.



Don’t know where to begin? Here are some pointers for small business owners in any field:



1) Having a (good) website



The very first step you need to take when considering any social media strategy is to take a look at your company’s website. Any company who is lacking a website in 2011 is at a serious disadvantage and will be very uncompetitive in today’s internet-heavy market. Now, assuming your site is already up and running, you need to make sure that your website is in the best shape it can possibly be. Check for good content, nice images, a user-friendly structure and an effective conversion tool. Your site is useless unless users are able to easily find a way to buy your product or otherwise take your desired action.



2) Blogging



An important step in the social media marketing process is setting up a blog for your site. Your blog should have entries that are relevant to the industry in which you work. A good blog is a blog that your customers would find useful or interesting. Keep it up to date and do your best to keep the information pertinent to your industry. Blogging is vital to generating traffic to your site.



3) Using Facebook



By now you have probably discovered that Facebook is not only a social tool, it is also a crucial component to any company’s online marketing strategy. Make your company a Facebook page and try to keep it fun and interesting. Link to your blog articles or other interesting content from your site. Engage with your users. Try to get in the head of one of your potential customers, and ask yourself why they would want to be your facebook friend. Keeping that in mind, cater your page to market to those exact customers.



4) Using Twitter



Twitter is also important to any marketing strategy because it provides another method of interacting with your followers. Make sure your customers are able to easily find your company on Twitter. Every day, write at least one Tweet about something new and exciting at your company or in your industry as a whole. Just like on Facebook, be sure to engage with your followers. Using Twitter also helps to generate traffic to your website.