In the first half of this article, How Social Media Impacts Internet Marketing, I talked about current social media statistics and briefly outlined some of the ways that you can get involved in your own business marketing online. There are three areas where you need to pay attention when building your online social presence – Interaction, Content, and Feedback.

Interaction

You have yourself a profile on all of the major social players, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, but nothing is happening. Simply having a profile is not enough. It’s like throwing a fishing line out into a lake full of giant bass without putting any bait on the end of the hook!

Your interaction on your social network is the bait that will turn your visitors into customers and clients.

Just like in the physical business world, people visit you online because you are offering a product or service that they need. If you are not there to tell them about it, answer their questions, and start conversations, they’re not going to hang around for very long. You don’t need to be there every minute of the day to have an impact, but you have to show up at least once a day.

If you’re pressed for time (and who isn’t really) consider using some of the networking tools provided by sites like Hootsuite.

Hootsuite has just purchased Seesmic (who now owns Ping.fm), so their service is set to expand dramatically. Just don’t fall into the trap of thinking that now that you have this great tool you can forego the interaction aspect. Your customers are in a relationship with you. Like any other relationship that you value, they deserve your direct attention.

Content

No one wants to write about their business after working at expanding it all day right? Yet, this can be your one place to really show the world how you feel about your product or service in a friendly, up-front manner. Properly executed, content has tremendous power to increase your following and garner those coveted slots at the top of the organic search chain.

To achieve this, you must provide something of value to your readers and do so in a quick snippet that they can peruse lightly, grabbing your essential wisdom while wolfing down breakfast. If you don’t have the time to write content for your website or blog, hire someone else to do it. There is no other single decision that will bring you more bang for your buck.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention here that I’m going on the assumption that you already have a crack SEO guy working diligently on your link building and optimization campaigns at the same time. It’s true that you can make minor headway with content and diligent social networking – even major headway if you don’t mind how long it will take, but SEO will quickly give you the taste of some icing on your web-cake.

Feedback

Finally, let’s talk a bit about what people are telling you (and your other followers, potential followers, etc.) in your online interactions. This is the number one rule in public relations (which is technically what your social media campaign is), you must listen to the feedback you receive from your public. Listening alone isn’t enough though, you have to act on the message to instill trust and faith in your business.

On a very small-scale, this could be something simple like a conversation with a follower on Facebook. Consider the number of people who will see the conversation, not merely from your own followers but the potential new ones too. On a larger scale, this could involve a group of customers who were unsatisfied or disgruntled. How you handle them both matters tremendously to your overall online presence.

In our information driven world, even one disgruntled customer can leave a big public relations footprint. Make sure you are addressing the needs of your followers and clients. And remember to use every piece of good news you can find to support how wonderful you are at what you do. Post testimonials from clients and customers and use the free online advertising of the web to promote yourself far and wide.

Copyright © 2012 Patricia Ross. All rights reserved.