The Fun Part about Social Media Marketing

Experts clearly show the marketing opportunities with social media marketing.  These are wonderful tools for the small business owner to use.  Online social networking offers some personal rewards not found in other marketing efforts.  In this post, I will share three personal rewards you can receive from your participation in social media sites.  It’s fun! Enjoy and prosper.

Your Brand

A key ingredient in social media sites is the profile of you and your business.  Done properly and with a thoughtful approach, this is an excellent opportunity to express “Your Brand” to others.

I believe that when all is said and done, people buy you and not just your product or service.  People buy from people they know, trust and people they like.

With most small business marketing efforts like brochures, ads, websites, etc there are standard formats for using these tools.  People use standard formats because they work and produce results.  Most of these formats do not allow for any personal expressions of “you.”  You must present your business persona.

In social media profiles you are encourages to write about you and your business.  Social media participants expect you to be real—your personal persona.  With social media sites, you can express things about your brand normally not part of your marketing effort.  You will find this a refreshing experience.

Your Voice

In social media programs you are required to make frequent comments about “what you are doing now”.  Other participants want to know what you are doing now.

This becomes an opportunity to use your own voice in making these comments.  People use your comments to learn more about you so they can build a relationship with you.

In much the same way you chat with friends over a glass of vine or beer, discussing the little things in life.  Social media gives you the opportunity to do the same.  Isn’t it nice that people want to hear from the real you and not just the business you?

Your Network

Compare social media networking with traditional business networking.  In the traditional network you are confined to a specific time and place with a specific group of people.  With traditional business networking, it becomes a group policy on who can become a member of the group.  Many times, a new person joining may not be your first choice and may even be in competition to your business.  You become part of the group decision.

In social media, you build your own network.  It is your network!  You are never forced to accept someone among your connections, friends or twitters.  You can accept or reject people without ever having to do this in person.  Software programs also allow you to clean out “dead” wood from your networking group without hurting anyone’s feeling.  Where can you have such control over a networking group? It’s call YOUR NETWORK!

Conclusion

The side effects that come from participating in social media—you can express your unique brand, you can use your own voice, you can control your networking–are just three of the personal rewards you can experience with social networking programs.  Social media marketing is fun.  Business can be fun!

To be continued, your comments are welcomed…

Al Hanzal