There’s this myth that using social media for business is easy; this preconceived notion that all a business has to do is sign up for an account on Facebook and Twitter, get a website and BAM! the business is now using social media. But, are they really?

Having social media accounts and actually understanding how to use those accounts to grow a business are two totally different things. We’ve said it before and we’ll keep saying it: Push marketing does not work anymore. Customers are smart. Pushing a message in hopes that you’ll get more customers, whether you are pushing the message on TV or Facebook, will not work. Here’s what will:

Connect on A Personal Level
Build relationships with customers. Be a real person when you are talking to them or commenting on something of theirs. You are a representative of your company but you are also human. When customers feel like you are genuine and can relate to you, it builds trust. That trust will lead to a lasting relationship. Your goal in social media should be to build a community of people. Think of your business as small town where everyone knows everyone and treat it as such. People care more about the relationships that are built and will go out of their way to remain loyal to those businesses.

Quality Over Quantity
We cannot stress this part enough. It is not about putting out the most tweets. It’s not about having the most fans on your Facebook site. This goes against everything we said in the paragraph above. You have to be sincere and you have to put out information that people actually care about. It’s not about being the most active social media user, it’s about the customers participating in the activity. Are you putting out information that’s helpful? Are you listening and responding? Are you talking about anything worth reading? Make sure your messages are worthy of your readers.

Strategy
Don’t enter social media without a plan. Make sure you understand what the tools are, what they do and how they can benefit your business. Just because everyone has a twitter account it doesn’t mean it is the right tool for your business. Please don’t think that just because you have social media accounts set up, that people will flock to you. Have a plan to get them to your website, Facebook page or blog. If you don’t know what SEO is, research it. If someone is searching, will they be able to find you?

Stay On Top
Don’t get too comfortable. Technology changes all the time and so do social media tools. Remember MySpace? They were number one for a long time and Facebook took over as the top social networking site. Make sure that you stay on top of trends and are willing to evolve with social media.

Just like fashion, the Internet also has trends. Staying on top of your online presence may feel like a full time job, and it totally can be. Be sure the check out our next post where we will give you some tips on how to improve your online presence!