Social Network Marketing

Social Networking Sites: Getting the Best From Online Communities

Chances are that you belong to at least one of the common online social networking websites but do you make the most of your membership to benefit your business? These sites are not only a way of staying in touch with friends and reconnecting with old friends but can also be a great free online resource to boost your business.

You can use your posts – not every one though – to promote your products and services but be sure to do this in an understated and subtle way for best results. If all of your posts read: “I’ve written a new book, buy it on Amazon!” then you will not get any new customers and will only serve to alienate your existing online friends.

Blatant advertising aside, there are many subtle things you can do to promote your business. For example you might want to take care to fully fill out your profile with a description of your business, a link to your website and your preferred email address for people to contact you.

Also take time to fully check out the features of the social networking site itself so that you can get the very best out of your time online. You might be able to send posts from your mobile phone, add links to your favourite videos (or your own video teasers for your products) and so much more.

Spend some time really having a good look around the social networking site. Look at the buttons you never get round to pressing and see what they do. See if you can add extra pages, organise your photos in a certain way or turn on other features to make your part of the site really stand out.

Always make a point of checking out the terms and conditions of the site in question as these set out the rules and regulations which you must follow as part of your membership. I know many people simply tick the box to say they have read these terms and then never give them any further thought, but it really does make sense to study this section. Some sites may have few rules and may be rather relaxed about what you can do online but others may be far stricter and the ultimate sanction is having your membership cancelled and finding yourself locked out of the site. It would br such a shame to have your membership terminated because you kept breaking a rule you didn’t even know existed!

You might be able to set up your own network of like-minded people within the site where you can chat and share information on your favourite past-time or hobby and, of course, this feature can be just as useful for business use. If you set up a network for people interested in your particular niche, (as long as the terms and conditions allow this of course) then you will have a group of people who can give you invaluable ideas, suggestions, feedback and comments, all of which will be useful for your business.

Don’t limit yourself to joining just one online community. Do some online research and find others which appeal to you and sign up for those too. Set up similar communities there and you can post relevant content-led articles which will be of benefit to other community members with an interest in your niche.

So while not using these sites for blatant selling you are using them to establish your credentials as an expert in your own particular niche. And don’t forget that you can often add links to these sites from your own website so your customers can also follow your online social networking posts.

It may be possible to separate individual groups of friends so that you can make one set of social posts and another set of business-related posts but a good rule of thumb is never to post anything online that you wouldn’t mind all your friends and customers reading.

Finally as these sites are generally free to use you can see how social networking websites are a great resource to get your own message across to a targeted audience.