Social Media: Getting Started

Written by Rick Schissler on January 27, 2016. Posted in Uncategorized

Lead generation today is more about being found than hunting. Online, this means appearing in the results when people use search engines to find answers and products. SEO (search engine optimization) is one of the most important elements of lead generation

What this means is creating a system of places where people – and search engines – can find your brand.

Employ Best Practices
So how do you start reaching out and engaging? The following are my recommendations for three of the most popular social networking sites.

Facebook is interesting because it has so many users and has built some very nice engagement tools.

• [icon type=”angle-double-right” class=”accent fa-li”]Build a Fan Page: Any business on Facebook can create a fan page for the business and start optimizing additional content there. Add applications, newsletter sign-up pages and events, and promote them to your “friends” on Facebook. When someone becomes a fan of your page, your updates on the page show up on his or her wall, providing additional exposure.
• [icon type=”angle-double-right” class=”accent fa-li”]Take Advantage of the Apps: Promote events, upload or record video, hold contests and polls. All this extra engagement is so easy to do using pre-built tools. And don’t forget to integrate your Facebook activity back to your website and blog using a Facebook Fan Box.
• [icon type=”angle-double-right” class=”accent fa-li”]Use Facebook Ads for Awareness: You can target ads to Facebook members on all kinds of criteria and run pretty low-cost ad campaigns. Generate awareness of your content, and you will get the chance to earn the trust it takes to actually sell something to someone.

LinkedIn has a reputation as a solid place to network, find prospects and even get hired.

• [icon type=”angle-double-right” class=”accent fa-li”]Take Advantage of Your Profile: This is a great brand asset; don’t waste it. Make your profile informative, and make sure to add a photo, create a branded URL, link to your blog, products, workshops, etc.
• [icon type=”angle-double-right” class=”accent fa-li”]Give First: One of the top features on LinkedIn is something called Recommendations. You should acquire some recommendations, and I find the best way to get them is to give them. Choose people in your network whom you’ve worked with and write an honest statement of recommendation.
• [icon type=”angle-double-right” class=”accent fa-li”]Demonstrate Your Expertise: An often-overlooked feature, in my opinion, is the Question and Answer function. By answering questions thoughtfully, you can demonstrate expertise while potentially engaging contacts that are drawn to your knowledge.

Twitter is probably the hottest and least-understood social networking tool, but with a few consistent practices, you can derive plenty of value from Twitter.

• [icon type=”angle-double-right” class=”accent fa-li”]Tweet Great Content: Find inspiration by following people who always tweet interesting stuff, subscribe to blogs that feature great links and reviews, scan weekly and daily email news digests, cruise over to the del.icio.us popular page and read print publications of interest. All these sources (most of which can be scanned in a 15-minute sitting once you have them set up) are rich with content that your followers will want to read.
• [icon type=”angle-double-right” class=”accent fa-li”]Get Familiar with Twitter Search: For many power users, search is the most important feature of Twitter. You can use the Twitter advanced search tool to create elaborate searches that filter out only the tweets that address your specific industry in your specific geography. I would also include the use of the #hashtag as a search tool. Get in the habit of using it to promote your events and promotions.
• [icon type=”angle-double-right” class=”accent fa-li”]Remind People You’re on Twitter: Use tools like the Tweetmeme plugin to make your content easy to tweet. Add your “follow me on Twitter” button to Web pages, email newsletters and email signature. Add your @name to your business cards, stationery and invoices.