Tips for Using Social Media Sites to Promote your Business

Much has been written on Blog about Social Media Strategy. One thing that often gets overlooked in all of the detail is a more general approach to social media sites to promoting business by businesses and entrepreneurs.

After analysing  hundreds of businesses and social media strategy within my short experience, I have dwindled it down to seven super important social media tips that businesses and entrepreneurs should consider on their way to promote your business.

Let’s dive in!

1. Contribute, collaborate, inform, educate but do not sell. Social Media marketing is different from paid advertising. Rather than taking a sales approach (i.e. directly promoting your product), instead consider how you can help and inform your target audience. For example, try to deliver useful and credible information that will help build your reputation and customer relationships.

2. Create high quality content. Whether you are part of a social networking site, have established your own blog, or are contributing to a blog, you need to develop interesting and high quality content. What information will your target audience find helpful?

3. Start with Small Steps and Build on Your Success. You can get a feel for how social media sites work by commenting on other blogs, or setting up your own blog. If you have a service based small business you can try “Yahoo! Answers”. This website provides a way for you to share your knowledge with people who are looking for that specific information.

4. Leave your name and URL when you comment on other blogs. This will help drive traffic to your website, particularly if you have provided useful or interesting information.

5. Consider video and/or photo sharing. If you are handy with a video camera you may want to consider “how to” videos or tours of your business. These videos can be shared on appropriate social media websites (e.g. YouTube). You can also take photos of your products and share these photos with people who are interested (using for example, Flickr).

6. Join online groups or mailing lists that are related to the products and services you offer. Connect with these groups and offer information and assistance.

7. Understand how social media websites work. These sites are all about connecting and collaboration. Adopt a collaborative, helpful approach and be an active contributor. These sites generally have rules against aggressive sales tactics.

Social media works best when there are real people, with genuine intentions and quality content behind each and every profile, tweet and tag. If there is an automated system in place, the value and engagement drop significantly.

The tips I have mentioned are excellent tools which I suggest to umpteen businesses and entrepreneurs to promote your business and to build trust with your audience because they provide factual information, and they present you as a leading authority in your space on the tip of the digital world.