Getting To Grips With Social Media

July 26^th 2011 Sally Ormond social media, social media marketing, twitter for business, understanding social media

Social media isn’t always an easy thing to get to grips with. It’s like any new thing – it takes a while to get the hang of it and a lot of practice. And understanding it is unlikely to happen over night; it will take time and patience.

Let’s face it, communicating via a computer, iPad or smartphone to a bunch of people you’ve probably never met before isn’t the most natural thing in the world.

If you were physically in a crowd you could stand out and be noticed by your looks, clothing or extravert personality. When chatting with online ‘friends’ standing out isn’t so easy but that’s what you need to do if you want to attract followers.

Get noticed in social media

When tweeting, Facebooking or chatting in forums you must let your personality shine through which is why it’s best not to farm out your social media activity.

But make sure it is the real you and not a persona you’re adopting purely to attract followers. You may think you can be anyone sat in front of your computer but what happens when you meet these people face to face? And you will – not all of them but some of them.

If when they do business with you or meet you, you come across as something completely different from what they were led to believe they’ll lose their trust in you – so be warned and be yourself.

Companies on social media

A lot of companies get it all wrong. Don’t get me wrong, we all make mistakes when first starting out using something for the first time – but they miss the point about it being social.

Just because your are a company doesn’t mean you have to come across all corporate and starchy. Showing a bit of personality will endear your followers to you and show that you are a company that’s approachable and that cares about its customers.

Whether you’re a sole trader, partnership or company, social media is a platform from which you can directly communicate with your customers. Injecting some personality into your communications will give a face to your business. It will show you are someone to do business with; someone who cares.

Social media can help every business given time. Just work out your strategy and, if you’re a larger business, your company social media policy and have fun.

Communicate, share and above all enjoy it – it is meant to be social media after all.