Using social media for free business publicity
By Publicity Heaven writer Susan Connolly
In 2010, a Nielsen survey found that for every nine minutes spent online, two of those minutes were spent on social media. That’s over 20 percent of online use. The impact and power of social media in shaping consumer decisions and preferences is rising every day.
Business owners can capitalise on this new communication environment by integrating their PR and communication strategies with the social media environments that their customers use.
The beauty of using social media for publicity is the fact that once customers or potential customers have accepted a business into their social networks communications and updates from the company are seamlessly integrated into their online lives. Rather than being an intrusion, announcements and developments from the business have been invited, and appear in the same fashion as updates from friends and family.
An added benefit is the organic nature of growth of a social media presence. One individual ‘liking’ a Facebook page for an individual is automatically transmitted to all the Facebook friends of that individual. They then become aware of the business, but more importantly, see that someone in their personal sphere has a positive feeling about the business. Each additional ‘like’, shared post or retweet opens up a whole new pool of contacts and potential customers.
Developing a social media platform is both free and easy. It is possible to attempt to use a competition or giveaway to establish an initial presence on social media, but a healthy community can also be established by simply pointing customers towards a Facebook page or Twitter account in order for them to stay up to date on the services, competitions and special offers that the company already provides. Alternatively a Facebook like button can be added to the business’ web page, unobtrusively prompting current customers to share their purchases and wish-lists with their friends.
Updating a social media platform and keeping content current takes only a few minutes a day, or even just a few minutes a week. Composing a quick tweet or Facebook post about the next big offer in store, new shipment that has arrived or competition that is coming up is neither time-consuming or difficult, and many free programs are available that allow for the updating of several social media accounts from one interface.
Facebook and Twitter are the big names that come to mind when thinking of social media, but it is important not to forget the other avenues that can be used to publicise a business through social media. While Facebook and Twitter are popular, by reaching out to other social media platforms a business can maximise their exposure to different market segments. Blogs can help to develop a relationship based on trusted advice, FourSquare buttons on a website can allow users to add the service to their to-do list and there may be many opportunities for free publicity with Google’s new social networking effort, Google+.
By using social media, businesses gain both free publicity and develop a relationship with their customers, helping customers to trust the business and think of it first when considering purchases.
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