Are You Social?

Monday, August 20, 2012

Sir Smiley here- Smile

 

This week, the President of our company will be speaking at a business conference in Portland Oregon; her topic?  Embracing Social Media 

I thought it might be good to learn a bit about the topic from the KING of Social Media; yours truly! Cool  That's right!  There really is nothing more 'social' than a good old fashioned smile.  We speak every language, cheer most everyone we see and we can lighten up a room just by showing up.  Today Social Media  refers to more than a smile (but it is a great way to start don't you think?), it refers to the following:

  • Social Bookmarking Interact by tagging websites and searching through websites bookmarked by other people.
  • Social News Interact by voting for articles and commenting on them.
  • Social Networking Interact by adding friends, commenting on profiles, joining groups and having discussions.
  • Social Photo and Video Sharing Interact by sharing photos or videos and commenting on user submissions.
  • Wikis Interact by adding articles and editing existing articles.

It is important to note that a large number of businesses are finding that it is easier to connect & interact with their customers through these different forms of Social Media.  Here are just a few tips to make this maze of options workable for you:

1-  Know What You Are Trying to Achieve:  Keep your company's core values in mind when determining your Social Media Goals.  You can easily waste tons of time, energy & effort by not having a clear and specific goal in mind.  For example; gaining lots of LIKES or FANS on Facebook is great as long as you know what you are going to do once you have them 'following' you!  If you do not have a clear plan, you could end up turning some of your customers off. 

2-  Know Your Audience:  The way you communicate with your customers often times depends on who your audience is so being aware of your demographics is important!  Are you communicating with business owners, product users or volunteers?  When using Social Media, your message matters and knowing your audience helps you tailor that message!

3-  Keep The Conversation Going:  Just like any great Marriage, when you are communicating, you are building the relationship.  Employing great listening skills and really looking for the ways you can enhance your service or product offering, will be a natural result of keeping the lines of communication open!  Ask questions, pose challenges, ask for feedback and you will be cashing in on the magic of Social Media. 

There are tons of resources on the Internet to help you figure out the various ways you can use Social Media- I hope I've been able to add to your knowledge.  Interacting and engaging on different levels, can really help you develop and keep your business associates coming back for more and remember:  Social Media should always begin with a SMILE!!  Smile 

 

Sir Smiley 8/20/2012