What does “social” truly mean, and how can midsize businesses use it’s dominance on the world scene to grow their business?
Real social marketing takes dedication, intense focus and hard work on the right things. Winners don’t beat the competition because they work harder. The secret, is in understanding what matters.
Serious midsize businesses that want to be social, must know that in order to harness the power of social, it takes understanding these three things that matter:
- Listening to your audience
- Sharing your relevant message
- Enabling others to share your relevant message
And what do you share, and hope that others will? Content—Information.
Now, it’s not enough to push your content to social media channels. You also have to create and cultivate conversations around it. Think of it as finishing the content with a thought-provoking question, then managing the answers, learning on the go, discussing the content with the audience in question. That makes your midsize business, social and its assets, like content.
Sure, you can utilize social channels in a way, where you may engage in conversations with your audience, to promote your content. But these social channels are more equipped to host the conversation resulting from the content, not just serve as a billboard advertisement or promotional tool for it.
Being a social midsize business means caring beyond shipping the content. It’s about asking your clearly defined and understood target audience for their opinion and really caring what that opinion is. It’s about bilateral intimacy—engagement. The end result is that you can create even more social context with your prospects and customers.
The truth is, whether you’re a midsize business, small business or a lone entrepreneur, social marketing can be the most inexpensive and powerful marketing tool in your arsenal to build the trust and authority that — in the best case — helps exponentially grow your business.
Question: What other benefits do you see to being a social business?
About the Author: Patrick McFadden is a marketing consultant/coach for small businesses and organizations. He is also a featured marketing contributor to American Express Open Forum and has been named a marketing thought leader for small businesses.