Apr 29 2009
Why Are Social Networks (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace) Helpful To Your Business?
When I talk to my customers about the benefits of social networks to their business, their internet marketing, and websites search engine optimization, I usually get 1 of 2 reactions. They either respond with questioned looking expressions on their faces, or they declare that these social networks are a complete waste of time.
And it’s true that even though MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter have all received a lot of attention over the past few years, are free to use and fairly are simple to set up; using them effectively is a lot more difficult. Why would adding friends and responding to friends help your internet business does not make a lot of sense with all of the manual intervention that is required.
The usefulness of social networks, especially Twitter, comes because users go far beyond that by “tweeting” about interesting articles, asking and answering questions, and offering as-it-happens commentary at conferences and events.
Social Networks offer five benefits to most business, large and small, to increase their internet “footprint”, and increase their website(s) search engine optimization .
First to connect with others in your industry, your business, and your customers. There are quite a few people already using social networks. LinkedIn is quite popular with professionals. MySpace, Facebook, and now Twitter are where your customers are at. Being able to quickly send out marketing messages, discussing common issues with piers, and seeking advice from gurus can be invaluable. Social networks can be like a never-ending client conference and trade show, with all the benefits of networking and none of the travel costs.
Second to get to know others social networkers. The social networkers not only connect with their prospects but with their peers as well. Each is a “sneezer” that can spread your internet marketing message like a “virus” throughout the web. The more sneezers get infected the faster and wider your virus will spread through the communities throughout the web.
Third to keep up to date with your business and industry news. Social networks work faster than any news outlet can. Keeping track of trends in the your industry and your niche in the marketplace is easy to do with the various search tools inside each of these scoail networks.
Fourth to find out what people are saying about your business (and you). If you’ve just sent out any press releases, marketing inititives, or marketing messsages, it is imparitive to measure the reactions and impact of your efforts. Social networks help you easily keep an eye on anything said about your company and you, which will help you avoid any marketing and PR disasters.
Finally to get more exposure for your events, your products, and your services. Messaging your firends who are following you on your social networks increases attendance at your events. attention to your business, and increase overall sales. If you can keep your marketing efforts to be informative and not turn them into spam; increases exposure, improves your social networking presence, and increases traffic to your websites.
