Why Use Social Networking?

Hello and welcome to my first blog post. While I’ll be blogging about marketing, public relations, and other subjects, my primary focus will be discussing how to use social networking in a professional manner to promote your business and yourself.

The most frequent question I receive is: “Why should I bother doing this? It seems like a silly waste of time.” The answer is, of course, it can be a silly waste of time. However, when done properly, it is a very beneficial marketing tool to use for your business. One of the primary reasons is simply the numbers. By using social networking, you have the ability to reach hundreds, possibly thousands, of potential customers, often with a fairly minimal effort.

One of the most important factors you need to consider in social networking is which site to use to reach your target audience. We only have a finite number of hours every day, so it’s critical to spend your time focusing your efforts in the right places.

Begin by researching your options. A great way to start is by looking at what your competitors are doing. For example, if they are having success using a social networking site that targets a specific industry, then that’s what you should consider using, too. You can often find this information on the company’s Web site, as they may have a way on their site for customers to sign up to receive their information. However, if your target audience is general, then your best choice may be sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Aside from anything else, Twitter is like word-of-mouth on steroids. Your message can spread quickly, seeming to take on a life of its own.

Once you’ve decided what social networking site to use, it’s OK to just lurk for a while to see how others use the site. However, once you get started…don’t stop! We all have the attention span of a gnat, so don’t make your followers forget that you exist. I’ve seen too many people who want to use social networking for business only post every couple of weeks…or even less often. To me, that’s like only having your Web site up once every two weeks. The key to remember is “repetition, repetition, repetition” when posting. Successful advertisers recognize this when they run their ads multiple times. You never know when a potentially client may be online – so don’t miss the opportunity to capture their attention by posting too infrequently.

If you use social networking for business, have you been successful? What tips and techniques do you use? If it’s been a challenge, how can I help?