Social media is becoming increasingly important to businesses as customers are influenced and make purchasing decisions based on social recommendations. Brands and businesses that aren’t harnessing this potential are already behind. Building an engaged social community takes time and strategy; it is not something that happens overnight. So how does one begin to get started in what may seem like foreign territory? Here are some tips:
Dive in. Talking about social media can be a bit ethereal and theoretical. We could talk about Twitter until we’re blue in the face, but unless you actually go in, set up an account and start to tweet, you just won’t get it.
Be patient. Just like you didn’t learn Algebra 2 in 30 minutes, neither will you learn “social media” in 30 minutes. Or 30 days for that matter. Give yourself a few months to really wrap your head around it. Be consistent. You don’t have to spend 30 minutes a day on it (though that would help), but touch base with your followings at least once or twice a day.
Define Your Objectives. How will social media best benefit you? You might not be able to answer this one until you get a bit more involved in it, but you can answer: What are my marketing objectives? Or: Where does my marketing continually come up short? Keep these questions in mind as you work your way through the maze that is social media. The most important thing to keep in mind is your audience – who are they, and how can your brand engage them on a human level?
Engage. Social media is much more rewarding when you actually engage with others. If you’re a business who refuses to engage, entertain, comment, thank, question, you’re usuing social media like you use old media: as a one way street. Unless you’re a Nike, that strategy will not do you any good.
Explore different aspects of social media. Comment and rate something on Yelp. Create a video and post it to YouTube. Like the Facebook Pages of your favorite brands or even competitors, engage and respond to the brand and other fans. Enter a sweepstakes via Facebook. Open a Diigo account and start to use it as your bookmarker. Go to paper.li and make your own Social Media Daily online newspaper. Write a Tweet interesting enough that five people retweet you.
The moral of the story is that if you’re new to the space, swallow your fears and dive in.
Now that you’ve graduated Social Media 101, you’re ready to take a more in-depth look. Tomorrow we will be discussing integration and how all of the pieces can fit together to produce better business results. Stay tuned!
Let’s check out what’s happening in the world of mobile: Thanks to Google’s announcement that the Ice Cream Sandwich OS 
