We all know that Twitter and Facebook have revolutionized the world. They have brought attention to the whole concept of “sharing.” It’s a concept that we were supposed to learn in pre-school and then again in pre-marriage counseling, but we couldn’t really wrap our heads around it until it was presented to us digitally. [enter Web 2.0 -- stage right]
Welcome to the 21st Century
Right around the time we discovered new phrases like “wardrobe malfunction” and “red states/ blue states,” Web 2.0 came along and introduced us to terms like “crowdsourcing” and “social media marketing.” To say that this new way of communicating has taken us by storm is understating at its finest. Storms eventually end — and when the rain stops and the winds subside, people can rebuild and move on. Web 2.0’s impact is much deeper; it has changed the way we do business.
But let’s not forget that Twitter and Facebook are relatively new kids on the block. The real revolutionary in the area of social media is our friend: Blog. That’s right, Twitter, you are a worthy prodigy, but don’t forget your mentor. Blogs still provide businesses the best way to exchange meaningful information with customers. Sure, Facebook and Twitter get the word out quickly, but they are best used when linking to a blog or website containing the real details. 140 characters isn’t exactly enough to adequately portray your company’s values.
Hey Twitter – Who’s Your Daddy?
In fact, tools like Twitter and Facebook are “micro” blogs (which kind of sounds like an insult you’d hear on a super-nerdy playground). They are smaller versions of a real blog, albeit with their own distinct advantages. But by exclusively using a microblog service, businesses lose out on the real value of disseminating useful information to their customers – information that will build confidence (and your brand name).
The best way to utilize social media is through a collaborative approach. Use Twitter, Facebook, emails, and even print media to send people to your blog where you can post relevant articles, receive critical feedback, and lead customers through the sales cycle. It is tempting to rely solely on easy-to-write tweets as your inbound marketing bread and butter. Don’t! Learn how you can devise a social media marketing approach that will captivate current and future customers.
For help with a complete social media/ content driven system to build confidence in your customers, send an email to matt@peakwritingsolutions.com. I’d love to help you come up with a solution that works for your business. Oh, and when you send the email…feel free to use more than 140 characters.
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