You already do Social Networking:
Let’s take a closer look:
is the most popular social media site currently, has options for individuals ‘Timeline’ and for organisations ‘Page’. An organisation can be a business, a community, a celebrity, a group, or even a place. Facebook allows you to interact directly with your customers by posting information, links, specials or any thing else to your page which will then show on the News Feed of the people who have Liked your page. You can also Like other businesses with whom you have a relationship and get their updates. Posting on Facebook needs to be relevant and ideally done daily, for best results find out what time your customers will be checking their Facebook.
is known as a ‘microblog’ site, the maximum number of characters for each Tweet is 140. You create a Twitter account and start Tweeting then you will get Followers who will get your Tweets on their home page. You can also Follow other companies or people with whom you do business or are relevant to your page. Tweeting needs to be done a few times per day in order to be seen on, you will need to work out what the best times of the day are for your customers.
is a network for professionals, connect with people you know through business, join interest groups – either business related or your personal interests. Keep up with the latest ideas, comments and releases in your industry. This is a must for every business person, allowing you to network online as well as in person.
is the virtual version of old-fashioned pin boards, if you see a picture you like online you can ‘Pin’ it to one of your Boards; everyone who is following you can see what you have posted and may want to Repin your picture to their board, you can also search on categories as well as see what was posted most recently by other members of Pinterest. A great place to find and share inspiration.
‘A tells people how we think’, this is the best description of a blog that I’ve found. A blog allows you to write about topics and issues that are important to your company. You may want to write about how a product that you sell has changed someone’s life, or about an idea you’ve been developing. Blogging regularly also means that your website has new content, and therefore will be more likely to be picked up by search engines. Think of it this way: if your local paper offered you a regular column, write about what you want, whatever length you wanted, published at no charge, what would you say? Yes, of course! That is what a blog is, but not only in your local paper, but available to anyone, anywhere.
is an online system for sending out newsletters. It allows you to maintain and update a contacts list, and download this if required. It also has links to Facebook and Twitter as well as your website (and/or blog). You can import company colours from your website so you have brand recognition, and you can set up templates with your logo in ready for fast and easy use. There are analytics, so you can see who has opened your email, how many bounced back, and what the click-through rate was. And you can personalise the emails that go out, having them start with the recipient’s name. There are plenty of ways to utilise MailChimp so you will have the right choice for your business.