How Does Social Networking for Business Work?
Social networking for business works like any other facet of business, two parties exchange to gain a mutually beneficial agreement. In this case, a company generates content and shares it with a social networking platform. Those people then find the information and find it relevant for their situations and choose to follow or friend the business (in most social networking platforms). The business then gains the readership of that person can keep educating the client until the client is ready to buy. During this time frame the prospect develops a relationship with the business and gets to know and like the business. This makes the buying decision easy for the consumer.
The point of social media (most platforms) is to share beneficial information that a reader can consume and improve on the problem they are having today. This is the hook that keeps the readers coming back for more information. This action of "coming back" for more is the way a business can develop a relationship with an individual even before they buy a product. A relationship with a potential buyer is far more important than any web page that exists on the internet. Building a following or friend list is more like building a list (in internet marketing terms) than anything else. It takes good content and the ability of that content to be found (this is why the phenomenon of "retweeting" is important; it makes a marketing message easier to be seen).
Once a reader finds, likes, and follows a business. The business just needs to continue delivering content in the form of social media and continue to make offers inside those social media posts. This allows the business to get what it wants and allows the customer to get what they want as well. They look for information and the business is looking for people who may be interested in buying their product or service every day. One of the smartest things a business owner ever told this author is that, "social media should be treated like a membership site." These people who friend and follow a business do so because they are getting something of value. The trick is to continue delivering that content until the prospective customer unsubscribes or buys the product or service.
The continual drip of education allows a customer to learn to like and trust the information from the business. This builds a relationship where the buyer is more likely to purchase the solution that is presented to them. This may take some time to develop; however, if the relationship is cultivated then a business will get more business than they would have created by just pitching their services and products every day through the social networking outlets.
The understanding of how to effectively market through social networking outlets is important facet of internet marketing. It takes skill and knowledge to successfully make a social media campaign bring money into a business. However, it just takes knowledge of fundamental internet marketing concepts to make it work. Yet, not having these fundamentals will cause a business to lose a lot of money over time. What is important is getting the right information (such as the information in this article) and using it to a business's best advantage.
Scott Buendia consults for Bizbuilt.com. All the views and tactics in this article are tactics and ideas of the author; they do not necessarily represent the ideals, beliefs, or trademarks of Bizbuilt.com. Visit his card on Bizbuilt here, https://www.bizbuilt.com/socialmediaprivacy.
