andon

Most businesses use social media for promotion, in order to increase revenue and their customer base. However, the social web is not just a unidirectional broadcasting channel.

According to an article featured on Memeburn, it’s not just about reaching out to the community and trying to attract new customers. Business owners should consider engaging in order to figure out what they can do for the social media community.

Social media should not be used as a one-way communication channel. All businesses should be actively engaged on the web, take part in all available social activities and support the community they are trying to keep and attract.

If you are still unsure how to engage, here are some tips from Memeburn on how you can use social media to its full advantage.

1. Live by the social media rules.

How? – Be active and transparent. This does not mean revealing confidential information about your company. You need to create a social media policy and guidelines that you will follow within your business. All employees should be kept up to speed and you all need to work together once you’ve figured out what you need to do.

2. Make your social media profile human.

We all know that it’s hard to connect with a company or a logo. That is why, you need to present the social media audience with the human side of your company. Step out of the so called “corporative shell” and reach out to people through a representative. Being human will help you connect with your loyal customers and it will most definitely help you attract a few new ones.

3. Share your knowledge.

Take advantage of the available information on the social media. Represent yourself as a though leader and expert on all channels by sharing content that is important and interesting, but also beneficial to your target audience. But before you jump to the sharing part, you need to define your target audience and then decide what information would be of interest.

4. Answer when asked.

With social media, you can answer any customer service related questions about the services or products your company offers. Get outside of your own media box, and tell your employees they can answer business related questions about your brand, products or service on any social media channel that your company is using. Have your customer service department extended on LinkedIn, Quora and many other Q&A related channels and reach out.

5. Deliver customer reviews to customers.

This does not mean that you will be opening up the flood-gates to negative comments and reviews. In the age of information, people can research anything online. It doesn’t matter whether or not you provide customer reviews on your social media profiles. So why not use this to your advantage and let your customers promote your business online? Motivate your customers to speak about their experience with your company, and ask them to provide tips for new customers.