One of the great things about using social media for business is that you can discover things.  Information about all sorts of things is strewn across the internet – most of it in the public domain for us all to read.

Research has become so much easier due to social media sites.  We can hear what people are saying about our products and services – good and bad (giving us the opportunity to amplify the positive comments and respond to negative comments).  Set up some Google Alerts to see what’s already being said about your company.

We can listen to conversations to find out what needs our customers have, helping us refine what we offer and tailor our social media content (blogs, videos, free reports etc.) to help answer their questions and drive traffic to our websites.  Find a Discussion Forum where your target market hangs out and browse the topics being discussed – you might be surprised at what you find.  Take a look at Social Mention and listen to the conversation across 80+ social media sites.

Social Media advertising can be very specifically targeted because of the information people fill in on their profiles.  Take a look at Facebook Ads or LinkedIn Ads and see how many people you could reach.

The same profile information also helps us find and connect with prospective customers, suppliers and referral partners.  Try the Advanced People search on Linkedin or take a look at www.followerwonk.com and hone in on your target market on Twitter.

Make a point of discovering things on social media on a regular basis and act on what you find – it’ll definitely make a difference to your social media marketing efforts.

You can discover more about social media on my Facebook Page - come over and introduce yourself.

Did you know there’s an Advanced Search function on Twitter?  No?  That’s because Twitter doesn’t seem to want you to find it!

Here’s how:

Type the keywords you want to search for in the Twitter search box and press Enter on your keyboard.

You’ll see a results page that gives you a list of tweets that include those keywords.  Click the down arrow next to the ‘cog’ in the corner of the page, then click Advanced Search.

This then reveals the Twitter Advanced Search page where you can really narrow your search.

If you’d like more handy tips just like this one then you can buy my eBook: 365 Social Media Tips – download it to your Kindle or your iPhone or iPad.  You can also buy it direct from Brightword Publishing.  The tips cover Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Hootsuite, Slideshare and more.  Most of the tips also include a ‘how-to’ so you know where to look.

One of the objectives of using social media for business is to capture the email address of those people who have an interest in your product or service.  You’ll notice many websites featuring a form which asks you to enter your name and email address to receive their free newsletter.

If your email box is anything like mine it’s already chock-a-block and takes some good time management to keep it under control.  So unless it’s a company I already know really well I’m highly unlikely to enter my details in the hope of getting an interesting newsletter every week or month.

However, if I come across a website or Facebook Page that asks me to enter my details in return for a compelling free report, video or ebook that has some information that will solve a problem for me or will be extremely helpful to me, then I wouldn’t hesitate in handing my details over.  It’s a no-brainer.  I’m happy and the company has my email address enabling them to keep in touch and build a relationship with me … and ultimately sell to me.

If you want to build a targeted list of prospects then think about what you could give away as your Compelling Free Offer.  If you’ve spent some time researching your target market you should know what things interest them in regard to your product or service.  Set up a sign-up form on your website or Facebook Welcome Page, feature your Compelling Free Offer and see if you get more people giving you their details.

Take a look at these 12 Most Compelling Free eBooks by Business Bloggers to get some inspiration.

Incidentally I will be practising what I preach very soon on my own blog, but you can see my compelling free offer over on my Facebook Page.

Next week on The A to Z of Social Media Marketing … D is for Discovering

A blog is a platform where you can publish an ongoing supply of short articles that gives your customers and prospective customers some interesting, useful information to do with the products or services you offer.  The blog post is written on a blog page (like this one), preferably housed within your website.  There’s some great free blogging software around that’s fairly easy to use – this one being WordPress

If your business wants to include social media in their marketing mix then a blog page, in my opinion, is essential.  It’s essential because it helps you do the following:

• You can use it to attract visitors to your website – Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn are good platforms to use to post links directing people back to your blog posts, which creates traffic to your website.
• Well written blog posts that include relevant keywords people would use to search for your type of product/service can boost your search engine optimisation efforts.  River Pools & Spas are an excellent example of how effective blogging can be for this.
• An informative blog post can help showcase your expertise.  Writing regular posts that are helpful to your target market can help you become the person they think of first when they’re ready to buy.
• A consistent blogging strategy that focuses on your customers’ needs goes a long way to building that know,like and trust factor.

If you’re not sure what to write or you’ve run out of ideas to blog about, take a look at Nikki Pilkington’s 30 Day Blogging Challenge.  It’s packed full of creative ideas, inspiration and tips, so you never have to worry about writer’s block again!

Next week, continuing the A-Z of Social Media … C is for Compelling Offer.