I have spoken with many small business owners who have asked if they really need to do anything with social marketing. The stigma the previous generations see in social networking is clearly associated with a characterization of teenage girls gossiping or people sharing photos of their cat. However, we don’t let gossiping girls stop us from using the telephone to make client phone calls. We need to see social networking as a medium of communication used by all sides of the culture spectrum. Very few of your clients are not on at least one of the social networks.

Here are some easy ways to get your business exposure using social networks:

Create a page for your business on all social networks (twitter, facebook, linkedin, google+)

This is a simple process of entering in basic business information Be sure to include company website and phone number

Create buttons that link people from your website to your social network pages

Your web developer can do this for you or you can easily find the buttons on the social networks

Create buttons for your dynamic content

for example a +1 button on the bottom of each blog post so people can share something interesting to them

Post short messages of interest to your industry or client base on the social networks at least weekly

There are web browser add-ons that can make this less cumbersome

Invite your current clients to your social networks

The more points of contact you have with them the more you will stay on their minds for their future projects and when a friend asks for a recommendation

Whether you complete one of these tasks or all or even become a social networking guru, the important thing to remember is that social networking done right can be a huge boost to your web traffic, and ultimately your profits. For years people have spent large budgets on marketing campaigns with post cards, on phone book listings, etc… but did you imagine that the future of marketing would be free?

If you need help with your social marketing campaigns call FOO Web Development at 813-406-0366.