How to strike a balance for your business using social media

When it comes to using social media you will need to strike a balance to engage and promote your business in a way that your audience will respond positively. Social media offers the opportunity to meet more potential contacts than you ever could in person. It raises awareness for your business, engages your customers and increases loyalty. Smart business entrepreneurs know that it’s all about engaging the right audience with valuable content. Social media is not a means to free advertising. Your online community has little tolerance for self promotion.

People buy from people they know and trust. They may not always follow you on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, but by getting your name out there and building relationships with relevant people your potential customers are more likely to have heard about you. You may even get recommended by others. It's a great way to manage your reputation, conduct market research and increase sales. You can't ignore the role it plays in helping create a strong brand presence for your products or services. Different types of social media are good for different marketing activities. The more popular social media services are

Facebook - a social networking site that allows you to have conversations with customers, post photos and videos, promote special offers, and more

Instagram - a photo sharing app is used by retailers, restaurants and all types of people oriented businesses. It is an effective brand building tool. Instagram is a hub where regular people can view the visual identity of your business and attach your location to their posts

Twitter - a 'micro-blogging' service that allows you to send and receive short messages from customers and potential customers YouTube - an online video hosting service that lets people share their videos Blogs - internet sites that contain a series of entries or 'posts' about topics of interest to the author, much like an online 'diary' Coupon sites - websites that offer discount coupons for goods, services and events Pinterest and Tumblr - other websites that allow users to store, organise and share their photo collections Google - websites that deliver targeted marketing messages to customers in particular locations, through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets Trip Advisor, Agoda, Yelp - websites that feature customer reviews of goods and services.

Using social media allows your customers to connect and interact with you on a more personal level. If you already have an established brand, social media might be an opportunity to further develop your brand and give your business a voice. Here’s why social media is important.

Attracting Customers

Social media is an ideal platform to interact with your customers at a personal level. It can be a good way of attracting new customers. For example, when considering social media campaigns, you could try to attract followers with promotions or giveaways. Once you have a good following you can focus on more personalised social media campaigns to encourage them to stay. By putting in place a social media strategy you are able to satisfy both your customers’ and potential customers’ needs, giving you an edge over your competitors. You can make this happen by telling people what they stand to gain by choosing your brand and offerings.

Research

Businesses that use analytic tools online to track their progress in the market can see click through rates, shares and ‘likes’ generated by their social content. Images and videos are shared more often than any other social media content. You can do this by hiring the services of a company that offers web analysis. Next, begin tracking your daily progress to get a bigger picture of what is really happening. Then it’s just a matter of putting together a small video that costs very little these days and uploading it to your YouTube channel. Be sure to have a link to the channel on your website. If you choose to advertise in social media, the ads can either link back to your business' social media page or sometimes to your website.

Networking

Use social media to find events to attend and forge relationships that you can then continue in face to face networking. It can also be valuable to your business for knowledge sharing and word of mouth referrals. The Business Minder says

"When you communicate directly with your customers over a complaint or even a word of thanks, you are promoting trust and confidence in your product, service and brand. Any customer would be pleased when the turnaround time for a complaint is minimised and when they receive personal responses"

You can achieve this by setting up social media platforms as part of your marketing strategy on customer retention. It means nothing without at least one dedicated employee to manage the platform effectively. Be sure to invest in the right person who possesses the right public relations and communications skills to run your social media channels.

Some businesses use social media to advertise vacant positions. Job networking sites like LinkedIn are dedicated to the job market and can help you use networks to attract skilled people.

The best news is that social media is free! Other than your time, participating in social media doesn't have to cost you a thing. It will help to reduce your marketing budget. It's important to establish from the outset what you want to achieve from engaging in social media. This way you can easily see whether social media provides you with a return on the investment of your time.

Keep measuring your success against your goals. If something isn't working then don't be afraid to change it or try another type of social media. The Business Minder operates management and business consulting services throughout SE Asia with clients in Bali, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia.