Top 7 Reasons Why Your Company Needs Social Media

pam perry social media expert

An avalanche of new opportunities is available on the Internet in the form of social media sites. These sites serve as a strategic public relations and marketing tool to build your brand and target key audiences for your business.

Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter enable individuals, groups and companies to easily publish, share and interact on the web. By joining a social site, you can discover topics that people are talking about and what they think about your business and how to improve accordingly.

Here is a list of popular sites to give you a quick overview of how each serves its purpose:

Facebook: Facebook is considered the heavyweight of social networking. From uploading photos, to making status updates, which allows users to inform their friends of their whereabouts and actions, is the epitome of social media.  It’s a great way to keep in touch with friends and family as well as marketing tool. In addition, you can create a fan page for your company or start or join a group related to your company.

  • Forty-five percent of Facebook’s 45.3 million active users in the US are 26 years old or older. Nearly a quarter of all Facebook users are over 35 today. Facebook is growing in every age and gender demographic. The fastest growing segment is women over 55, up 175.3% as of February 2009.

 

Twitter: Twitter is considered a more basic format of Facebook. The users known as “followers” are allowed to send brief messages, only limited to 140 characters known as “tweets.” Followers can search by name and follow your daily tweets. There is no limit on how often you can tweet, but make sure the information is related to the company that followers would find interesting and useful.

  • For example: Your company can use Twitter to inform followers of the latest company news or upcoming events. This is a hassle-free way of disseminating information in a mass message.

 

LinkedIn: Unlike all the other major social networking sites, LinkedIn is dedicated to helping people connect for business rather than social purposes. It’s useful to search for consultants and contractors and identify people in companies that you hope to do business with in the future. It’s also become a major source for posting professional job openings.

  • For example: LinkedIn can be used as a socializing platform for you to interact with other like-minded people, especially those in the same industry. It can be used to establish consistent and deeper relationships for future benefits such as colleague recommendations.

 

YouTube: This site pertains to videos only. Although you may think it has nothing to do with your company, businesses have discovered it’s a great way to provide information to prospects. You can make a video of the products you sell, describe your services or even video testimonials and easily upload them to YouTube.

  • For example: By using YouTube, your company can embed a watermark so users watching the video know which company and website the video is from. This is another way of building your company’s brand.

 

Top 7 Reasons Why Your Company Needs Social Media

  • It’s free, fast and flexible.

 

  • Establish yourself as an expert in a field, while staying on top of your field and your competitors.

 

  • Target potential and current audiences without resorting to spam. Since the users make the decision to connect with your company, marketing messages will be anticipated not disregarded.

 

  • Engage with user-friendly options such as photos, videos, blogs, and status updates. Traditional media is passive while, social media is interactive.

 

  • Market and build your brand while engaging audiences.

 

  • Enhance credibility by controlling and communicating directly with the key audiences.

 

  • Learn directly from audiences on social media sites such as Facebook. These platforms let the company learn directly what customers are saying about its service and products.

For more information contact, Pam Perry, Social Media Strategist at 248.851-3993 or 248.690-6810.