Being social helps grow your business

You've heard all the names before - Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter - but have you ever really considered using these social network sites as tools to improve your business? With the right amount of dedication, patience and creativity, you can take your business to a whole new world of customers.

Deciding if social networking is right for you

It's the current darling of the business world, and some of the larger corporations spend millions investing in social networking and protecting their social media, but is this approach the right one for your business? There are certainly a few questions you should be asking yourself before heading down this route:

• Do I have the time required to maintain my social content?
• Is my business dynamic enough to warrant its own Facebook or Twitter page?
• Do I want to make more sales, or just raise awareness?
• Could this do my business more harm than good?

Ignore social media at your peril

Maintaining social network accounts requires a certain amount of dedication and creativity. If updates aren't made regularly (at least once every 2-3 days) then it can look as if your account is no longer active, or your business has nothing to offer. We see many businesses start a Twitter account with great gusto, then run out of things to say within a week, which achieves the opposite effect to the one you were looking for.

It is therefore vital that you plan your approach before you start. You need to be sure that you will have something to add on a regular basis which will be interesting to people outwith your business, such as special offers, notifications of upcoming events or new content on your website.

As part of this plan, you need to calculate how much time you will have to invest in making updates. For example, if you run a Twitter account and a Facebook page, you may well have to set aside 2-3 hours per week to make it work well for your business. If you can't envisage having that time to spare, or a regular stream of content to add, it's probably better that you don't start at all. As your business grows, you may find there comes a more suitable time to begin.

Make sure you get the result you want for all your hard work

So, you've taken the plunge and worked out that you have the content and the time - now you just need to make sure you get the response you were looking for. People have varying expectations of what social networking can achieve, and indeed the response very much depends on you and your business. If your business is retail based, you might find it easy to attract friends and followers by posting regular special offers and discounts (everyone likes a bargain!), but if your business doesn't normally have direct contact with the public you may struggle to attract people outwith your industry.

Bear in mind that social networking for business can be a slow burner. It takes time to build a network containing enough friends/followers to make a difference, and you really have to be proactive in your approach to attracting people, but once you have the audience you require, it really can be a very powerful marketing and sales tool.

Sharing is the new networking

Finally, you must remember that a lot of the people who show interest in your business will also expect you to show interest in theirs. Try to spend as much time as you can checking out the people who follow you, and if you think their content is worth sharing with other members of your network, follow them and recommend them to others.

If you want to talk to Gillespie's about how social networking can help your business, we're always happy to help. We maintain social campaigns for some of our customers, and advise others on running their own campaigns, so we know what we're talking about.

Our next blog will cover social media, and how important it is to keep it all under control.