Entering the world of social media networking for business purposes is a decision not to be taken lightly. Whilst the main platforms of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the new comer Google Plus are all free, what it does cost you, is your time.
You will be rewarded for your social media efforts if you can ensure your accounts meet the following to maintain social media momentum:
1. Offer valuable content.
2. Engagement.
2. Share and be supportive of your connections, and
3. Be consistent.
These are all valuable elements and will help you to maintain momentum which is critical in being seen and noticed amongst the masses. You will need to be prepared to try different strategies or change the focus. Social media represents connections with real people in real time and what may work initially, may become uninteresting and possibly even boring over time. For instance, you can’t expect to meet people face-to-face and always talk to them about the same topic. Participating in social media is no different. So there may come a time when you need to reconsider your strategy if the engagement is not happening.
I still see many Facebook Pages get caught up in the numbers game and I don’t doubt that they are paying for advertising. If I stumble across a Page with thousands of ‘Likes’ with 10 ‘Talking About This’, more than likely they are simply broadcasting to their ‘bought’ audience. Facebook is smart and will give more weight to the Pages who have less number of ‘Likes’ but more engagement. So it has become even more important to have a clear strategy for your social media presence, keeping up that momentum and foster engagement.
If you can see the value of social media but find you are time poor, there is the option of outsourcing elements of your social media activity. I am not a believer that it should be outsourced 100% as no one else can be your personality, your voice nor are they the expert – that is you!
I was recently interviewed by Suzi Dafnis from the Australian Businesswomen’s Network and Cat Matson from Alito about outsourcing your social media administration and how this approach can be extremely effective when you partner with someone who gets the social media space! There are many who can assist you maintain the social media momentum from a Marketing and PR business, to a Virtual Assistant who specialises in social media support services.