Finding your place in the social space
Scott Angus, editor of the Gazette and vice president of news for Bliss Communications, wrote in Sunday’s paper about “where he fits in the social space.” I admire his honesty and frustration. For many, social media can get too busy, too personal and time consuming. I get it. What intrigued me most about his post was his comment about being interesting, where he boldly stated, “Problem is, I’m not that interesting.” Truth is, Scott, you really are. This is one of the biggest reasons why folks hesitate to jump on the social media bandwagon. Everyone has something to say, and there are plenty of folks who are interested. But you’ll never know until you start talking, tweeting, posting and showing your personality.
This post got me thinking. Mainly about how social media relates to you: professionals, business administrators and entrepreneurs. Have you found your place in the social space?
Your clients, partners and colleagues want to hear from you. What businesses struggle with is discovering what to say, how to say it and how to keep it interesting. Most importantly, your contributions should be relevant, unique and useful. If you want to be successful in leveraging social media channels, you need to plan out a specific strategy. Here are a few things to ask yourself before jumping in:
How do you want to brand the channel? Will it be used to promote the company, a person or a specific product or service?
How will you attract your audience? Social media users are not going to just stumble upon your page, you need to have a clear plan in place to build a following around each channel.
How often and what type of engagement will you or your company be willing and able to maintain once you have built a following? If you do not keep the audience engaged, they will leave. It’s no different with your website or your face-to-face interactions … if you don’t give them a reason to re-visit, they won’t.
Too many small business owners are willing to use social media, but have no strategy to make it work. It’s all in the planning once you make a business decision to branch out into new markets or new marketing channels. Be prepared to take action. Use social media to build a reputation, be a thought leader and/or industry specialist. Listen, watch and learn. You don’t have to contribute 24/7, you can learn just by watching your news feed.
If you are leveraging a social site for personal branding, company/service branding, how do you engage in your audience? What are your biggest frustrations? Join the conversation!
Trish Skram is a communications professional who works at Mercy Health System in Janesville and writes about Janesville's professional community. Trish is a community blogger and is not a part of The Gazette staff. Her opinion is not necessarily that of the The Gazette staff or management.
Jul 5, 2011 at 11:46 a.m.
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I'm currently limited in the amount of kind of data I can share with the people I provide services to due to political and management decisions. I think they (leadership) have very good points to restrict sharing information that some would find helpful but others would use as ammo against the department I work in. As frustrating as it is, following the "everything in moderation" works best.
With that said, I share a lot more information on my personal blog and twitter feeds than I can internally - the information I share are typically things I learned or break/fixes with detailed "how-to" resolve to help someone else in a similar problem. I have garnered a decent following and have used it for peer research, feedback on potential product trials, and in the end has paid back very good dividends on my efforts.
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My pet peeve with social networks used by companies are the ones who consider all networks the same... facebook is not twitter is not LinkedIn is not (insert the next social network here). Too much noise, too many posts, not enough posts, stale information, are a deterrent. Those who set up social network accounts for companies need to spend a few hours and educate themselves on proper use so they can maximize their potential - not drive off customers because they didn't use the tools correctly.
Jun 7, 2011 at 9:24 p.m.
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meh
Jun 7, 2011 at 9:31 a.m.
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You're point is a good one, crunch_munch, why would you connect with a bank or restaurant? Connecting with a business in social media realms is another level of loyalty. Loyalty that should be rewarded.
Businesses that reward loyalty in social media often do have a more engaged and interactive audience. Why? There is something in it for everyone. The business has a strong following and can interact with customers. Customers can get the inside scoop on special or even receive coupons. Some businesses go so far as to have social media-only promotions to further reward those connecting on social media.
So, what about that restaurant you go to a couple times a year? If you were connected with them on Facebook or Twitter and discovered you'd get a free drink or appetizer once a month, would that couple time a year turn into once a month? More?
For businesses in social media, it is about engagement. That connection to customers is difficult to maintain outside of social media. For customers, it is about being rewarded for loyalty. Rewarded for choosing to connect your social media presence with that business.
I, for one, like the social media connections I have with businesses I frequent. The inside scoop is nice, but the value they place on my loyalty is even nicer.
PS: I've seen the video floating around the web. Most excellent.
Jun 6, 2011 at 2:19 p.m.
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Drama is something no one wants.....but EVERYONE watches. So create drama and even though its bad attention....its attention.
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