» Think SOCIAL Media

Social Media is a great tool, there are many benefits to all kinds of business

1. Help you gain visibility
2. Generate interaction
3. Grow your audience
4. Boost your traffic and links
5. Aids search engine performance

… but all of those things are about what you can “take” from Social Media.

Is it any surprise when people go in with this approach that things go wrong?

OK, I understand that business is business, time is money, and nobody is going to go into this without having a goal in mind. I get that. But to be truly successful in social media you have to focus on who you want to interact with.

Take for example a Automotive Dealer. How can they benefit from social media?

• Offer automotive news?
• Help people with car questions or problems?
• Inform about maintenance, tips, ideas?
• Share video about sexy dream cars?
• Give advice about how to not be ripped off by unscrupulous competitors?

What do all those things have in common?

It’s not about you … it’s about them!

Answer for your audience “What’s In It For Me?”

Remember this is not a technology, it is not an advertising platform, it is social.

Social means people talking. It means you have to understand the human at either end of your conversations.

Start your social media journey by listening,  investigating, understanding. Get to know your community, the audience you wish to engage. Find out what drives them, where they are finding problems and challenges, work out how you can help.

Also this is an opportunity for really valuable insights:

• What do people think about you? What do they think your message is?
• How do you compare against competitors?
• Where are you getting things right?
• Why might someone resist buying from you?
• Do your prospects even know who you are?

By understanding your current reputation, and what your audience really wants help with, and how they like to be helped, you can improve your positioning and gain competitive advantage.

Best of all you can grow a positive reputation and word of mouth by being seen as a genuinely valuable part of your community, not all take-take-take. And you can’t buy advertising better than that!