With the presence and power of social media, what better way to connect with your prospects and customers than through a platform which allows them to learn, share and engage with you and your company?
Chances are your prospects, customers and partners are engaging in social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter. Done correctly, social media allows you to showcase your products and services in a way that educates, empowers and engages your network in a very cost-effective way. Social media encourages you to interact with your prospects through forums and discussions, which will help in your company’s growth not only in profits, but also in terms of branding. You want to be the business that fully understands what your prospects need, and have an expectation of what they need now, and will need down the road.
There are many social networking sites you can leverage to expand the exposure for your business. In an article by Ann Buehner, she mentioned four sites that are perfect for promoting your business online:
- Tumblr - Brands use Tumblr to create a community and to build a following fast with its quick and easy setup, seamless tagging and sharing capabilities. Existing brands also use the short-form blog to breathe life into content through a host of mixed-media that includes photos, links and video. Tumblr does not offer a reporting platform, and does not have the best reputation when it comes to collaborating with brands on advertising opportunities.
- Pinterest - Brands use Pinterest to build brand personality and inspire trends and influencers through instant social sharing. Pins are typically centered on major life events such as weddings and holidays. Users create theme-based collections through the site’s virtual pinboards. Dialogue is generated through the simple act of pinning, repining, “Liking” and commenting on images taken on a smartphone or from the web.
- Instagram - Brands use Instagram to showcase products, services, events or just a behind-the-scenes look through a feed of photos, instead of a slew of text. The photo sharing application for iPhone uses dazzling image filters, and features cross-posting to other social networks including Twitter, Facebook profiles, Flickr, Foursquare, Tumblr and Posterous. The goal is to attract new fans with Instagram’s search and keyword function, and to draw engagement through likes, comments, @replies and #hashtags.
- Tout - Brands use Tout to create real-time, 15-second video status updates captured from Apple and Android smartphones, and then distributed through social networks. Instant video sharing is on the rise as more and more consumers use smartphones. Tout offers integration across multiple platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, and does include analytics. It’s essentially video Twitter.
To find out more about these sites, you can read her full article here: "4 Short-Form Blogging Networks Perfect for Customer Engagement"
With more social networking sites available at your fingertips, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the tools and features in order to use them to their fullest potential for your business’ success.
