Generate discussion with Social Media
Facebook , Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn… To determine what form of social media to use, familiarise yourself with them and compare them to your businesses goals and objectives. Try to understand what your customers or potential customers use. These four useful steps below can help guide your efforts online upon identifying the appropriate medium:
Find the Conversation
Each form of social media has its own characteristics and this differentiation also determines who uses it and what they use it for. Try and understand what forms of social media your target markets are using. For example, hash tag conversations in Twitter, groups on Facebook, industry specific conversations on LinkedIn to mention a few. Use this information to find the right discussion that links closely to your businesses interests, products and services.
Listen to the Conversation
By monitoring conversations, you should be able to establish attitudes, trends and opportunities within the dialogue. Furthermore, it should be evident who the opinion leaders are within the conversation and whether these people are being received positively or negatively. Opinion leaders are usually held in high regard and are common in occupations or niche areas. Influencing these people can be highly beneficial to you further along.
Engage & Generate Discussion
The best way to generate discussion is to deliver relevant content at the right time. Do not bombard users with pointless images or comments such as a single link back to your website. Place a timely question, online competition, encourage users to upload photos and let the users do the talking. Remember to keep your goals and objectives in mind and continue to establish your business as a worthy voice amongst users and promote your presence as a leading opinion. Note that once your presence is established, your social media accounts cannot be left untouched.
Lead the Conversation
By this point you should be in a position to constructively lead the conversation. Continue to provide relevant material and remember to measure your efforts against your previously defined goals and objectives.
