Five Easy Ways To Spread the Word About your Social Media Participation

 Follow these five easy steps to spreading the word about your company's social media participation and grow your communities fast!
You have been to class after class and watched webinar after webinar. You understand the importance of business participation in social media and you have gone through all of the steps to create your company's communities on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. Now that everything is setup, you wonder: How do I get my customers' attention and push them to visit these communities and participate?

Below are 5 easy ways to let your customers know that your business is participating in social media and how to start some chatter.

1. 
   
   Website Links - Include links to your most important social networking sites in the header, sidebar or footer of your website. This invites and makes it easy for not only current clients to become a social fan, but also notifies any potential clients that you are available anywhere they go. Directions for Facebook and Twitter buttons and widgets for your website.
    
2. Email Signature - You have probably seen graphical links as well as general text links included in email signatures. The general email signature rule: don't make your email signature longer than your average email length. When it comes to your social media links, you want a short and concise notification included in your email signature that encourages your contacts to join your communities.
    
3. Post Client Survey - Add the links to your client survey and advise them to leave additional feedback on your social networks.
    
4. Promotions - People always come 'a flocking when there is free stuff. In a blog or news posting, promote Facebook or Twitter giveaways, competitions and exclusive discounts. Then in the correlating social media community talk up the prize and competition before and after a winner is selected to motivate people to join your Facebook or Twitter.
    
5. Search & Find - Remember, in communities like Twitter, if you don't have anyone following your profile, the chances of others seeing your tweets are slim. Utilize the search.twitter.com tools and find "tweeple" that are located in your area that may have interest in your business. Follow those people, they will most likely follow you in return, and then you will have new potential clients participating with you in your social chatter.

Again, if you don't have fans and followers of your social media communities, it is easy to assume that very few people are reading your social posts. For more information on the do's and don'ts of social media, read our blog, A Social Media Guide For Your Business. We are also always available for phone or face-to-face consultations, give us a call at 800-339-7305.