This article is based on a portion of the OneCoach Expert Interview with Robert Grant, Facebook Expert and Marketing Mastermind. OneCoach business coaching clients can access the recording of the interview on our web site.
Social media is now being implemented as a strategic marketing tactic in business and is taking the world by storm. Facebook, for example, is close to 300,000,000 users. It’s now accounting for 70% of the entire Internet population. The average user is logging on 4 times a day. The average visit time is 20 minutes. 8,000,000 people per day are joining Facebook fan pages. It’s the biggest social media platform on the Internet and no matter what industry you are in, members of your target market are using Facebook.
Depending upon your business niche, there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of other social media sites that you could be using to find your ideal clients. Understanding the trends in this rapidly growing industry will help you understand how to get the best return on your investment of both time and money.
The mistakes people make in social media:
They only think about themselves. If you want to be successful in social media, money has to be a natural consequence of you contributing. It’s all about connecting with people and building relationships.
They don’t realize that it’s an open community. Every word you say goes viral. It’s heard by the person you are communicating with, your network, and their entire network. Go out there and contribute first. Don’t be viewed as a taker. Relationships are first and business is second. Get a solid core network.
They think it’s about building the “Facebook phone book” which means adding anybody. When it comes to the masses, that’s what groups are for. Have a quality network. If you build a quality-based network, then as your relationships build their network, you can start leveraging a massive reach.
This “fad” is not going away…
You have to educate yourself in social media. It makes a lot of things from the past obsolete. When you are thinking about connecting with prospects, they’re online following other people. Think about your product or services. If your customers are online, then you need to figure out where they are online and how to start the engagement process.
If you don’t want to pursue social media yourself, then get help doing it or get it done for you. This is the new killer application to use if you want to see your business survive and thrive. When you become the early adopter, which is now, start leveraging your knowledge, strategies, and tactics over the next 30 to 90 days. You will position yourself as the thought and product leader in your niche.
