The use of social media sites has grown to epic proportions since the days when Facebook was strictly used by college students who posted their school information and a photo here and there.
Now, LinkedIn, Twitter and numerous other sites have come into play, and smart business owners are looking for ways to use the popularity of these web services to their advantage.
However, social media marketing is a skill that must be mastered. It’s vastly different from sticking an ad for California business insurance in the Sunday issue of the Los Angeles Times. What many companies fail to understand is that social media is meant to entertain, interest and simply make people aware of the existence of a business.
Here are several ways that business owners can make the most of their social media accounts:
- Don’t focus solely on your business or even your industry. Write posts and share links pertaining to community events and news. Essentially, become a public figure in your area so that people will think of you as a friend – not just a Facebook friend – if they ever need to seek the services you provide.
- Avoid any type of hard sell. Offering weekly incentives can do great things in terms of keeping people coming back to your page, but no one wants to feel like they are being targeted as consumers when they use social media during their leisure time.
- Don’t overdo it. While marketing agencies are putting a huge emphasis on the importance of social media, keeping your status updates and Tweets to about three per day can help you avoid looking desperate or annoying your fans.
- Keep it fresh and exciting. Even though California home insurance may not be the most stimulating topic of conversation in the so-called “blogosphere,” there are still interesting ways to incorporate information on your company’s services. For example, did Kim Kardashian’s house get broken into recently? Hopefully, she had a good policy in place to protect her mansion and all the goods in it. Before you know it your insurance website could be the new hotspot for tweens who want to read the latest celebrity news, and I’m sure some of them are in the market for a good auto insurance policy for new drivers.
Whatever your marketing goals may be, social media can help you work toward them so long as you use it properly. Business owners who want to see what all the buzz is about before they put their company name out there may consider making themselves a personal page first. This can help them learn how to use different features and also avoid sounding too serious in a forum for light-hearted sharing.
About the Author: Gary Remland is the President & Owner at Remland Insurance Services, Inc. based in Orange County California.
