A good web strategy is more than just having a website and updating it every now and then. Social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are just a piece of the puzzle, but they empower you with the ability to increase your reach and engage new audiences. It’s encouraging to see more businesses willing to experiment and try new things in regards to social media, but many of them aren’t being used effectively.
As I wrote back in April, a blog gives you the opportunity to engage people and converse with them, and that’s what social networking is about — interacting with people. People do not want to build a relationship with your BRAND, they want to talk to YOU! Businesses that throw money into trendy viral marketing videos (hey, I love them too!) and Facebook apps could be spending money on engaging people in a more HUMAN way and see better results.
If you are trying to find a way to incorporate a blog or a tool such as Twitter into your business, encourage your employees to use those tools individually rather than creating a single corporate account. If your site has a blog, give them a user account and let them post and author articles. If you’re thinking about using Twitter, ask them to create their own account; they can add their user name in their email signatures or business cards to gain followers. You may want to have some guidelines in place so that your employees aren’t mis-using the tools or sharing sensitive information.
Treating your audience like real people and allowing your staff to interact with them not only demonstrates your committment to them, but it also exposes a more human side of your business. People like that, they respect it, and they come back for more.
