Over 1 billion people on this planet are active users on Facebook. What that means to you is an immense audience for your products and services. Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and LinkedIn are the big players in putting customers and companies together.

Business owners often make a big mistake by dismissing social media as a waste of time. Everyone is just posting pictures of their kids, or talking about their vacations or other very uninteresting stuff. What business owners fail to see is that these time wasters are also paying customers for products and services.

Here are a few ways to use Social Media to put your name in front of paying customers and get their attention.

  • Let Someone Else Do The Hard Part: Look at what your competitors are posting then look at what the best in class is posting. Learn from those that are using social media successfully. Trial and error is too expensive when someone else has already done it for you.
  • Read, Read, Read: Post links to informative articles and tips that reinforce your expertise in the mind of your customer. We all want to buy from well-informed people.
  • It’s a Video World: I’m not even sure you can buy a cell phone that doesn’t have a camera or video capability. Show videos of people using and enjoying your products and services. Show potential customers the most efficient ways to use your products. Start a YouTube channel where people can see a collection of your videos and link to those from your web site and your social media posts.
  • Commercials Get Old: Are you mesmerized by TV commercials? Not many of us are. So don’t post a constant barrage of sales and self-promotion. At least 70% of your posts should inform your customers. Only 30 out of 100 posts should be self-serving or self-promoting.
  • Surveys & Questions: Both are great ways to engage the customer and for them to familiarize themselves with you. The questions don’t always have to be business related. Show your fun side now and then.

Some Final Thoughts

The big difference between social media marketing and conventional marketing is that with social media customers are looking for you. In conventional advertising you are spending big bucks trying to find and attract them. With social media you can help them find you for virtually nothing.

Social Media can help you add a whole other customer base you never knew you had. Help people find you by posting the social media’s you use on your web site and in your store windows. Social media is everywhere, computers, cell phones, tablets, there are more ways than ever before to reach your target market for much less than conventional advertising.

Start paying attention to what your competitors are doing online with social media. You might be surprised how much they are using it and how much business you might be losing.

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