How To Use Social Media Effectively in Your Organization

Like it or hate it, social media has become a staple in people's everyday lives. Whether it's Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or Pinterest, people of all ages and walks of life rely on these platforms to share ideas and glean information. With a few keystrokes and mouse clicks, you can reach hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of people all over the world. Never before has such reach been available. Social media is much more than a tool for individuals. Businesses of all types can benefit from its use. If you know how to leverage its advantages effectively, social media can be an important part of your internal and external strategy.

Get People to Your Website

Social media pages are the right place to build a community of customers and potential customers. These platforms can offer people the chance to ask you questions about your services or engage with one another. Social media posts can whet a person's appetite for your products and other offerings. On your website, however, you can build on this by delving into the meat of your organization. Let your social media accounts be what entices people to learn more about what you do. Your website can be the hook--the destination. Once they're on your website, you'll need a good SEO strategy. You can find plenty of services to evaluate your SEO needs to help you improve your page views. These places can show you how to do keyword research and how to appropriately build links.

Tell Your Story

Make sure your social media accounts reflect your company's branding and mission. The accounts should be consistent with your website's look and feel, including color schemes, designs and logos. Social media is a great place to share basic information about your organization. Tell people what makes you different from the competition and why someone would want to do business with you instead of with the place down the road. Learn to set yourself apart from the other places in the industry.

Share Breaking News

Long gone are the days of sending newsletters, either in the mail or by email. People's inboxes are already too full, and no one seems to have time to read lengthy pieces anyway. A well-designed Facebook or LinkedIn business page is perfect for unveiling new products, upcoming events or recent developments in your organization. On Twitter, you can share quick snippets of news that customers might not otherwise find out for days or weeks. You don't even need to use a lot of words to do this. Consider using Instagram to show people something amazing that you're working on or just released.

Be Active

If you want to know how to social media to your company's advantage, make sure you stay on top of your strategy. Don't let comments or questions go unanswered, either. Whether it's an employee, a customer or someone from the general public, be responsive. Address concerns quickly and politely. Social media accounts shouldn't just be for post information; these should act as a two-way street. Closely monitor all interactions, as you sometimes might have to intervene to dispel rumors and clear up any confusion.

Communicate Internally

While most accounts will probably be customer-facing, there's no reason you shouldn't include your employees. Invite everyone on your team to follow and like your pages. Give permission for certain people to post relevant information. Your staff members can share your social media pages with family members and friends. This can help you expand your reach and increase your visibility.

Be Timely

There's no use in jumping aboard social media if you're not willing to stay on top of it. Make sure you keep content fresh and up to date. The worst thing you can do is keep up that banner advertising a promotion that ended a month ago. If you're only posting on rare occasions, the traffic will dwindle. Be consistent and frequent in your posts. Set up a clear strategy and live by it.

Use social media to your advantage so you can build a strong, loyal following. This can pay dividends to your bottom line now and moving forward. Social media shouldn't replace all your sales and marketing tactics, but it can complement these efforts.