posted by: britney

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn are three of the biggest social media tools out there. These might seem daunting and something that you aren’t interested in getting involved in. The fact is, it is something that your business should be involved in. These social media tools are some of the best ways out there to not only generate awareness of your company but also to promote yourself.

One way communication is something of the past. Customers now have a choice to get involved with a company who pushes their product without accepting feedback or to get involved with a company who listens and communicates with them, to help meet their needs. The answer is obvious, and those companies who do not engage in two way communication are going to be left behind.

Similarly, these social media tools are important to promote yourself. Having yourself available online can be more effective than you may think. I am not saying you need to post all of your family picnic and camping trip photo’s... the extent of what you share is entirely up to you. The more you share about your work experience the more reliable you will appear to those you find you. Having an account on LinkedIn, for example, allows people to find you within a specific network and then they will be able to contact you. Having your current position and job title will encourage potential clients, customers, or dealers to contact you for future business. To learn more about social media, read the article below.

(Article Source: What Social Media Is and What Social Media is Not- By Mark Fruchter)

This post touches upon what I feel social media is and isn’t. It does not matter what your purpose is for using social media. The key elements are and always will be the same. Your desired outcome is dictated by the basic fundamentals of the core of what social media is. This post touches upon the most important ones. I could have went on and on with this list, but I don't think that was needed to drive home what I'm trying to get across. Please feel free to add to it by leaving your thoughts and opinions in the comments.

What social media is:

1) Conversation: Social media is all about word of mouth. The message you are trying to convey might vary for personal or professional gain. This is the social in social media. Without this, it's just plain old media. Traditional marketing methods are one-way, one-sided. Social media and social marketing is all about two-way communication, never forget this. Marketing in the social web means you must participate, lead and when necessary react to conversation.

2) Commenting: This goes hand in hand with community and conversation. You should actively comment on conversations. If you have an opinion let it be known, otherwise you are a shadow lurking in the background. Comment only when you have something constructive, or positive to add to the conversation. Commenting just for the sake of commenting adds no real value, all it does is add clutter to the conversation. Commenting also reflects on you as the individual or brand, so always beware of that fact. Choose your words wisely, think before you act or react.

3) Community: This is formed from conversation. This is where people are talking. The communities may vary across all the social networks. Go where your existing and potential customers are talking and engage them. It could be on Twitter, Facebook, Yelp and so forth. If your goals are strictly for launching a new product, you should be creating a community around it and for it.

4) Collaboration: Work with anyone, anywhere to achieve a common goal. This should be key to any company, especially when launching a new product. Your customers could be anyone. Who better to solicit feedback and ideas about your product than the ones who are already using it? Going beyond that, the social web allows us to collaborate basically with anyone that's connected to the web. Collaboration fosters creativity and innovation. It would be foolish not to use it. Forget the costly and expensive R&D teams. Collaborate with your employees. Like your customers, they are the ones who know and work with your product day in and day out.

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New Wave Media is a fully integrated marketing agency located in Calgary, Alberta. We are dedicated to unleashing the possibilities of what powerful strategic marketing can do for your business. Our passionate approach to your marketing needs will ensure that you generate consistent and effective awareness that drives use of your services among target audiences. Our philosophy is to use our industry expertise, experience, unique skills, objectivity and our belief in a partnership with our clients, to produce results strategies that will persuade your customers to stand up, take notice and, most importantly, act.

Contact Us | (403) 457-0919 | info@new-wavemedia.com | www.new-wavemedia.com

• January 13th, 2011
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• Tags: calgary, calgary social media service, social media for business, social media tools, What is social media