Posted on May 12th, 2010
People who live on the bleeding edge of technology probably have long since signed up for several different social media accounts, but what about the general population? Is there still value to be gained by the neighborhood plumber or even by the Internet marketing guru who focuses primarily in arbitrage? Absolutely.
1. Build Your Contact List
If you’re going to use Facebook or Twitter simply as a syndication feed, you’re missing out on 90% of its value. The point is that you can create a conversation with the online community and this can work wonders on developing your list. You can reach a much larger audience than you may otherwise have access to.
As you grow your list of followers, you also grow a potential distribution list for promoting any products or services that you may have to offer. If it were not for Twitter and Facebook, I don’t think Make Money Online would get the same kind of reach and attention.
2. Crowdsource Your Ideas
They say that two heads are better than one. If that’s the case, then thousands of heads are probably better than two. By leveraging the networking opportunities afforded by Facebook and Twitter, you have the ability to bounce ideas off a large focus group.
Do you have a product launch in the works and you’re looking at fine-tuning some of its details? Blast out a targeted question to your Facebook group or Twitter followers and sit back as the responses come pouring in.
3. Develop Customer Trust
Nameless and faceless organizations on the Internet have a hard time developing trust with their customers, because there is no sense of familiarity. Gone are the days when companies could rely on one-way communication, only talking to customers rather than listening to them.
By providing a venue where clients, customers, and business associates can contact you in an unintimidating environment, you have a better opportunity at building brand trust and brand loyalty.
4. Continue Passive Engagement
If someone happens to hear about your brand, they may take the time to visit your website. However, there is very little that will motivate them to come back on a daily basis.
By contrast, many Internet users log into Twitter or check their Facebook accounts several times each day. You have a constant opportunity to reach these people who may otherwise forget all about you.
5. Monitor Your Brand
The search feature in Twitter is positively amazing for monitoring how people are responding to your brand. This is great for damage control, putting out small fires before they grow into full-blown blazes.
Consider the customer who is angry at a company, but isn’t motivated enough to complain directly. He probably won’t come back and he might tell his friends (via Twitter) not to come back either. You don’t want your company to be that company. By monitoring and responding promptly, you can rectify the situation before it really becomes one.
