We use social media for our own business and also work with clients to help them use various social media channels effectively to meet their business objectives. Many of our clients are in service (e.g. healthcare) organizations or are independent consultants hoping to establish themselves as thought leaders. All are hoping that social media can help to raise awareness of their services and, ultimately, drive business. We’ve successfully used social media for ourselves, and others, to increase the level of awareness of companies, products and services; and to augment customer service initiatives, and to generate prospects and clients.
We’re often asked what we feel the most important tips are for those hoping to grow and sustain a following through social media and we’re always glad to share our perspectives!
The primary tips we would have for others when hoping to grow their business through social media are:
- Identify your specific goals and objectives up front and measure results to determine whether your efforts are paying off.
- Spend time to define and clearly understand your desired target audience segments. Not all audiences are readily reached through social media – those that are may be better reached through some outlets than through others. You need to ensure both that your audience is present and that they are also amenable to your messages through that channel. For instance, we have found with the majority of our B2B clients that Facebook is not a good means of connecting with their audiences–LinkedIn, on the other hand, is.
- Consider your social media efforts as part of your overall communications and ensure that they are integrated and aligned. Your messages should be consistent across all media and should support your brand.
- Commit to being involved and engaged on an ongoing basis. Social media is a channel that requires immediacy. If you aren’t able to participate regularly, don’t consider these channels.
Achieving success through social media is not difficult from the standpoint of understanding how it works. The challenge, however, is ensuring that you can provide content that is relevant, frequent and compelling to keep your audience coming back for more. It’s all about focus and frequency!
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