I grew up in Mississippi where the women are southern belles who know proper manners and how to shoot a shotgun. The other thing Southern women know how to do is spread the news. If someone has a new love interest, knows about a special sale, has a juicy piece of gossip or just has some good advice, word spreads fast.
All over the world since the start of mankind, we’ve been communicating with one another. Drawings, body movements, verbal stories passed on from one generation to the next; we are relationship beings where socialization and communication are part of our DNA.
Social media takes this interaction and magnifies it online. Basically, social media is word of mouth on speed. With traditional media it can take a large input to have a small output. With social media you can have a small input (with the right person) and have a large output. The same type of information and conversations that interest people offline will also interest them online.
With social media you want to focus on quality over quantity. Creating engaging content that people will comment on and share is a large goal with social media marketing.
If we went to lunch together and all I did was talk about myself, I doubt you would ever want to do lunch again. The same is true with your social media for your business. You don’t want to make it all about you. Create valuable, interesting content and then sprinkle in specials or information specific to your business.
There are several benefits to doing social media. It allows you to build a loyal following, communicate information, listen to the online community, maintain top-of-mind awareness, deepen customer relationships and improve search marketing results.
If you’re not currently doing social media for your business, what are you waiting for? It’s not going away and it can have a lasting impact on your business. As long as there are darlin’s and hearts being blessed in the South, there will be a need to promote your business in the community. It just so happens that your community is online.