Introducing Social Media
Curious about the weekly twitter chats being hosted by BMG? You’ve come to the right place. Here’s a recap of the last night’s chat incase you were unable to tune in! The official chat topic was “HOW TO: Introduce Social Media and Increase User Participation.”
Part One: Introducing social media to new publics can be a challenge. People may have preconceived notions or misconceptions about what social media is and why we use it. When pitching to a “new user,” here’s 8 easy reasons to help persuade them to join in! Because truly, if they aren’t on the social media bandwagon, they’re missing out. Here’s why:
Reason #1: User friendly: Let’s face it…social media is not rocket science. Most of the applications are pretty basic and easy to navigate. No major learning curve here!
Reason #2: Convenient: You can take social media anywhere. Update statuses at home, share links/articles at work, or find an awesome bar-hopping route for happy hour tonight!
Reason #3: Creative: Social media is a great platform for self-expression and networking. Use it for personal purposes, or use it to promote your business endeavors. Really, either way (or both!) is completely acceptable.
Reason #4: Exposure: You get to see what’s going on in the world. Stay abreast on what’s happening in your friends’ lives, in business, and in the world. It’s all at your fingertips.
Reason #5: Speed: News travels FAST via social media networks. It’s one of the absolute best sources for minute to minute news.
Reason #6: Concise…or Wordy: Social media includes everything from tweeting (just 140 characters) to blogging (pages and pages and pages!). What’s your style? What do you have time for? Operate within those networks!
Reason #7: Variety: There are SO many different types of social media: Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, 4-square, LinkedIn….I could go on and on. Whatever your need or interest, there’s a place for you to connect.
Reason #8: FUN: Social media is an incredibly exciting new(ish) way of communicating. Take advantage of it and have FUN with it! Explore, try new platforms, and be creative!
For the second part, we discussed ways to increase participation within social networks. Although we could write a book about this, here are three tried and true “Ground Rules” of How To Increase Participation within social media networks.
Rule #1: Quality over Quantity: Make sure you’re giving worthwhile information. Know your publics and post topics, articles or questions that will be of interest to them!
Rule #2: Be Consistent: In your content focus (topics) and tone (writing voice). Your social media outlet is a brand, an extension of you or your business. Stay true to that!
Rule #3: Stay Social: Social media is ultimately about interacting and staying connected with others. Be personable! No one wants to stay in contact with an anti-social or unauthentic social media presence. #BMGChat
A question and answer time as well as an open discussion followed the presentation of this content. Participants in the BMG Chat weighed in on the chat topic, as well as gave advice/suggestions to one another on real life social media dilemmas and unique situations.
Next week the BMG Chat will be held on Wednesday, July 27th 2011 at 7:30pm EST. The topic for next week will be “How To Spot Bad SEO: The Warning Signs.” If it’s your first time on the BMG Chat please be sure to say hi!