I look for social media inspiration everywhere and find a lot of it on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and right in my e-mail inbox. This morning’s inspiration came from an e-mail from a friend who wrote me about some trouble she’d been having over the weekend with a Facebook business page. She said, “I seem to be learning a lot the hard way.” A few minutes after reading her message I came across an excellent Infographic, published by Socialcast, How Executives are Using Social Media. And voilà, I found great synergy between these two topics.
I think if you were to ask many business people who have recently made their foray into social media they might express the same sentiment as my friend did—and I think it’s fair to say—we’ve all been there, done that. Reminds me of the old joke: A New Yorker is approached on the street near Carnegie Hall and asked, “Pardon me, sir, how do I get to Carnegie Hall?” He replies, “Practice, practice, practice.”
So the question then becomes, how do you practice social media? For me, five ways come immediately to mind:
1. reading
2. asking questions
3. commenting and engaging
4. creating content
5. diving in
Reading: Even 15-30 minutes a day reading blog posts, updates on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn will provide a good view of the social media terrain.
Questions: One of the things which never ceases to amaze me on the ever-expanding social-sphere is people’s willingness to help others. If you post a question you’re bound to get many answers, links, solutions and recommendations.
Commenting and Engaging: Even if you only post a couple of comments a week, you’ll be surprised by how much more a part of the social conversation you’ll become. It’s always good practice to comment when you truly have something to add to the conversation.
Content: I’m a big believer in the fact that all content needn’t be in the form of the written word. You can create and publish content in many forms e.g. images, photos, videos, podcasts. In fact, on the web, less is often more. (Case in point, how Socialcast packed so much great information into their Infographic.)
Diving In: There’s a lot of great instruction on the web about how to create a profile on a social networking site and great info about how to maintain them, too. You really can’t break anything, so there’s no harm in giving it a try. Once you get the hang of it, posting an update will become second nature.
By now you might be thinking but why all this fuss? Can’t I just get by without social media? Au contraire. Simply, social media is here to stay. Need more proof, Socialcast sums it up nicely.
When executives were asked how they see their company’s use of external social media tools increasing over the next 1-2 years they indicated: 58% more marketing programs; 57% content distribution; 48% as a sales channel/business development; 37% research job applicants; 35% create support community; 33% for sales contacts; 44% more viral/wom programs; 28% crowd-sourcing product/service ideas; 26% create community for client relationships; and 10% procurement network.
Consider too, these top five reasons why executives visit online networks (Socialcast):
1. Great way to keep track of peers and colleagues
2. Easy access to thought leadership or information that can’t be found elsewhere
3. Good way to showcase themselves or their companies
4. Easy access to learning and professional development
5. Wish to find out what others think of products, vendors or approaches
(Be sure too, to check out the rest of the Infographic.)
How do you practice social media? And, why are you visiting online networks? Share your comments below.
Tags: business participation, online networks, participation, social media
