Home / Social Media Marketing / How Businesses Can “Share” and Become “Social” in Social Media

How Businesses Can “Share” and Become “Social” in Social Media

A few days ago I wrote a guest blog post entitled “Social Media Was Not Created for Business…So Stop Selling to Us!”  With all of the talk about how companies need to get more “social,” all I see are a barrage of new “Follow Us on Twitter” or “Join Our Facebook Fan Page” advertisements.  As someone who uses Social Media for 1) keeping in contact with old friends and colleagues, 2) professional networking and meeting new people, and 3) finding valuable information and learning, I really have no reason to be joining Facebook Fan Pages of businesses unless they satisfy one of my requirements.  Remember: social media was created for average people like you and me, not businesses.

Another aspect about Social Media is, at the end of the day, it’s all about sharing.  Those who share relevant information on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook will naturally stay on top of people’s minds, and they will also win a lot of new “friends,” “followers,” or “connections.”  So, as a business, what will you share?  Are you just going to blast us with your press releases on your Twitter feed or Facebook Fan Page?  This is no different than average users spamming others with MLM schemes.

I find that there are two big trends appearing in how businesses approach the “sharing” part of social media:

1) Give Out Freebies or Discounts

This is a no-brainer.  If you’re spending money on advertising, why not divert some of it to utilizing Social Media, which is free, and giving out products or services of equal value.  Einstein Brothers recently did this with their famous bagels and got 15,000 new Facebook Fans in 3 days.

2) Provide Valuable Information

This is always a tough one for companies.  You want to engage in Social Media, yet you may not want to do a giveaway.  What to do?  Provide valuable information that your targeted customers may be interested in.  But what information? Toys ‘R’ Us is a good example: a Black Friday Preview on their Facebook Fan Page which limits visibility of certain tabs which contains discount information to fans of the page.  What if you’re a B2B company?  I love what both Business Week and American Express have done: collaborate with others (Business Week collaborates with Bloomberg, American Express collaborates with leading bloggers) and start social networking sites for their targeted user (Business Exchange in the case of Business Week) or provide useful information to their targeted customer (American Express OPEN Forum in the case of American Express).

There are more examples out there I am sure, but these are the two no-brainers that seem to be employed.  And either one is fine.  But this alone and itself will get you nowhere.  It is the conversations and engaging with the people that you give out the discounts or valuable information to that is of value.  One user at a time, making a friendship with them will win you true “fans,”  and as Social Media begins to permeate our society, true fans will become your company’s biggest asset.

Agree?  Disagree?  Let the opinions fly!

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Related Posts with Thumbnails
  • http://twitter.com/nealschaffer/status/8506343518 Neal Schaffer

    New blog post: How Businesses Can “Share” and Become “Social” in Social Media. Would love your feedback! http://ow.ly/1nW2uc

  • http://twitter.com/shafidul/status/8507183292 SHAFI ISLAM

    RT @nealschaffer: New blog post: How Businesses Can “Share” and Become “Social” in Social Media. Would love your feedback! http://ow.ly/1nW2uc

  • http://twitter.com/windmillnet/status/8507471083 Windmill Networking

    How Businesses Can “Share” and Become “Social” in Social Media: A few days ago I wrote a guest … http://bit.ly/d2s4XS (via @NealSchaffer)

  • http://twitter.com/thesocialexec/status/8507471255 Ryon Harms

    Member: How Businesses Can “Share” and Become “Social” in Social Media: A few days ago I wrote a … http://bit.ly/a12jeg via @NealSchaffer

  • topsy_top20k_en

    New blog post: How Businesses Can “Share” and Become “Social” in Social Media. Would love your feedback! http://ow.ly/1nW2uc

  • http://twitter.com/kevinliebl/status/8507984612 Kevin Liebl

    How Businesses Can “Share” and Become “Social” in Social Media: A few days ago I wrote a guest blog post entitled … http://bit.ly/dfDCXb

  • http://twitter.com/helpmyresume/status/8508774403 Help My Resume

    #Networking Advice How Businesses Can "Share" and Become "Social" in Social Media http://ow.ly/16tmNJ

  • http://twitter.com/dgupta5150/status/8508967601 Deepak Gupta

    Neal Schaffer #blog How Businesses Can "Share" and Become "Social" in Social Media http://ow.ly/16tmlo

  • http://twitter.com/mycrowdca/status/8510053364 MyCrowd.ca

    RT @dgupta5150 – Neal Schaffer #blog How Businesses Can "Share" and Become "Social" in Social Media http://ow.ly/16tmlo

  • http://twitter.com/takethe_plunge/status/8513564758 Urzay G.

    RT @nealschaffer How Businesses Can “Share” and Become “Social” in Social Media | Windmill Networking http://ow.ly/1nW2uc

  • http://twitter.com/timsstrategy/status/8521213566 Tim Tyrell-Smith

    New @NealSchaffer How Businesses Can "Share" and Become "Social" in Social Media http://ow.ly/16tw3S

  • http://twitter.com/mlbs/status/8533305462 mlbs

    How Businesses Can Become "Social" and "Share" in Social Media … http://bit.ly/9a6b2l #fb

  • http://twitter.com/rprasad/status/8549572839 Rama Prasad

    RT @nealschaffer How Businesses Can “Share” and Become “Social” in Social Media | Windmill Networking http://ow.ly/1nW2uc

  • http://twitter.com/keithkeller/status/8558273124 Keith Keller

    #Socialmedia RT @TimsStrategy @NealSchaffer – How Businesses Can "Share" and Become "Social" in Social Media http://ow.ly/16tw3S

  • http://twitter.com/keithkeller/status/8567756161 Keith Keller

    #Socialmedia 4 #Business RT @TimsStrategy @NealSchaffer How Businesses Can "Share" & Become "Social" in Social Media: http://ow.ly/16tw3S

  • http://twitter.com/abhilashaentinc/status/8589065395 Abhilasha Enterprise

    RT @WindmillNet: How Businesses Can “Share” and Become “Social” in Social Media: A few days ago I wrote a guest … http://bit.ly/d2s4XS …

  • http://twitter.com/sternalpr/status/8592106972 John Sternal

    How Businesses Can Become "Social" and "Share" in Social Media via @nealschaffer http://ow.ly/13pXu

  • http://twitter.com/accompanyc/status/8592526993 Carolyn Lawson Low

    RT @SternalPR: How Businesses Can Become "Social" and "Share" in Social Media via @nealschaffer http://ow.ly/13pXu

  • http://twitter.com/baybizadvisors/status/8592528264 Carolyn Lawson Low

    RT @SternalPR: How Businesses Can Become "Social" and "Share" in Social Media via @nealschaffer http://ow.ly/13pXu

  • http://twitter.com/keithkeller/status/8600995263 Keith Keller

    #Socialmedia #SME @TimsStrategy & @NealSchaffer – How Businesses Can "Share" & Become "Social" in Social Media – http://ow.ly/16tw3S

  • http://twitter.com/keithkeller/status/8643610837 Keith Keller

    #Business #SME RT @TimsStrategy – How Businesses Can "Share" and Become "Social" in #SocialMedia http://ow.ly/16tw3S

  • http://twitter.com/abhay_raj/status/8643654807 Abhay Raj

    RT @KeithKeller: #Business #SME RT @TimsStrategy – How Businesses Can "Share" and Become "Social" in #SocialMedia http://ow.ly/16tw3S

  • http://topsy.com/tb/bit.ly/a12jeg Tweets that mention How Businesses Can Become “Social” and “Share” in Social Media | Windmill Networking — Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Neal Schaffer, John Sternal, Ryon Harms, Keith Keller , Keith Keller and others. Keith Keller said: #Socialmedia #SME @TimsStrategy & @NealSchaffer – How Businesses Can "Share" & Become "Social" in Social Media – http://ow.ly/16tw3S [...]

  • http://twitter.com/smischuk/status/9067559753 Shannon Mischuk

    RT @nealschaffer How Businesses Can “Share” and Become “Social” in Social Media | Windmill Networking http://ow.ly/1nW2uc

  • http://twitter.com/lorirtaylor/status/9107455159 Lori Taylor

    How businesses can "share" and become "social" in social media: http://ow.ly/15Zqq

  • http://twitter.com/heberlee/status/9107612495 Heberle Babetto

    RT @lorirtaylor: How businesses can "share" and become "social" in social media: http://ow.ly/15Zqq

  • http://twitter.com/alicia189/status/9107621042 Alicia

    RT @lorirtaylor: How businesses can "share" and become "social" in social media: http://ow.ly/15Zqq

  • http://twitter.com/danielgil/status/9108727019 danielgil

    RT @lorirtaylor: How businesses can "share" and become "social" in social media: http://ow.ly/15Zqq http://myloc.me/3PlwZ

  • http://twitter.com/eva_smith/status/9175185131 Eva Smith

    RT @smischuk: RT @nealschaffer How Businesses Can “Share” and Become “Social” in Social Media | Windmill Networking http://ow.ly/1nW2uc

  • http://twitter.com/lorirtaylor/status/9556998338 Lori Taylor

    Want to know how business can share and become social?? http://ow.ly/19XLj

  • http://twitter.com/verafbirkenbihl/status/9557029084 Vera F. Birkenbihl

    RT @lorirtaylor: Want to know how business can share and become social?? http://ow.ly/19XLj

  • http://twitter.com/alrug/status/9557241298 Albert Rugel

    RT @lorirtaylor: Want to know how business can share and become social?? http://ow.ly/19XLj

  • http://twitter.com/mikekato/status/10111151813 Mike Kato

    RT @nealschaffer How Businesses Can “Share” and Become “Social” in Social Media | Windmill Networking http://ow.ly/1nW2uc

blog comments powered by Disqus

Blogs I Recommend

Social Media Informer