Since the interest in social networking seems to be so high, I thought I’d share some more information with you. Below is an excellent list of ideas to promote your business using social networking:
Limit your choices to top 3
Q: Just how many social networking websites are there?
There are too many, in fact, we have lost count of them because there are so many.
You are free to join as many as you like, but we recommend you stick to the top 3 in order to make the most effective use of your time and energy. While this rule may be reconsidered if you want to drive a lot of traffic to your landing page or search for niche specific customers, we really recommend the following 3 networking sites to appeal to most businesses and professions:
1. Twitter
2. Facebook
3. Twitter
Make use of the plug-ins or applications
Most Social networking sites come with exclusive plug-ins and applications. You need to take advantage of these and utilize them for your own professional and personal purposes.
For example: Facebook will allow you to integrate tweets into your profile. This can be advantageous to you because there could be people on your facebook that are not subscribed to Twitter and can take a look at your short message without you having to post the same message twice. Digg permits you to immediately upload and share your stories by adding a button on your blog, another time saving tool that will increase the overall value of a single effort.
Be friendly
This includes an often forgotten and important aspect rule of salesmanship, to be human. Make sure you are sensitive to other people’s feelings, give them a chance to interact with you, by asking about their posts and comments, or you can answer some of the questions they ask, even if they are not related to your particular business.
Do not be stiff or business like and make sure to avoid coming across as a salesman. Most of all, do not spend all your time promoting your products and services or your friends and followers will become bored with you. I cannot emphasize this enough! Most people are looking for interaction and information. While they may not be seeking the products or services you provide, they will learn to respect who you are and what you do and when they are looking for your product, they will find that you are the expert they were looking for.
Consider using your landing pages
For a while, I have talked about Landing Pages and I consider them to be your best tool for social networking websites. When you are simply using Facebook or Twitter for the purpose of meeting and making friends, even though that is important, you are defeating the purpose of building a social networking campaign. The goal is conversion and if you have a great landing page, it is comparable to having a skilled receptionist in your office. It will take care of your customers wants and needs, even when you are not available to help them.
You have to make sure that your landing page is working effectively and is able to communicate clearly. Think about it as having the receptionist I mentioned earlier, would you hire one that was rude, or incapable of answering the questions your customers ask? Would you employ an auto mechanic to answer your customer service calls for your computer software and technology company. No you wouldn’t . Then why would you permit this behavior from your landing page?
Fortunately, Ad2Action.com offers a variety of designs that you can conveniently modify to fit all of your needs, whatever your business profile may be. You can keep track of your campaigns to determine which marketing effort is providing the bulk of your traffic and utilize all your time to focus on those areas.
Think about your profile
Upload your picture! It does not have to be your smiling face if that does not appeal to you, but it should be a picture that represents you or your personality or your business. Use your company logo if you would like.
Some people use pictures of their children, others use their pets. That is okay, it shows that you are human and can provide a window of opportunity with others about similar interests. If you upload a picture of your dalmatian, you might find people that you have barely spoken to that are now offering a brand new relationship because it just so happens they have a dalmatian also.
Let your description/bio, user-name, posts, and any interest groups you select be a reflection of who you are as well as your business. Make a clear distinction between personal and professional information and be certain, before posting a personal comment, that it will not reflect poorly on your business.
Accept all opportunities to direct your contacts and followers to your landing page, without being overwhelming them.
Utilize all aspects of social marketing by directing your traffic to your landing page. Before building your landing page, check out Ad2Action.com Also published at Social Networking And How To Use It With Your Business.