The 3 ‘P’s Formula for Social Media Success

I’m often asked what the secret is to attracting customers to ones social network sites. Sorry to say there is no ‘secret formula’ but there is a Success Formula that if put into play, will perform. The first thing to know is that before you dive into Social Media place some thought into what your PURPOSE is. Why do you want to set up sites on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn? How do you want to use YouTube and Blogs for your business? Do you want to build relationships, talk about key services, expand your reach or perhaps build brand loyalty? Use caution, as your actions may either build up your brand or weaken it! Without determining your actual PURPOSE, there is no need to go any further.

Once you have determined your PURPOSE you then begin developing your PLAN, without established objectives in mind how will you know if you’ve achieved success? When strategizing, chart how you are going to approach the Internet by exploring what others are doing. Decide what social platforms to use by finding out where your audience is hanging out; this is why it is vital you know who your client is! Choose what tools you are going to use to measure your Social Media campaigns. Having a PLAN of action in place to measure your successes and catching your errors will help you to meet your goals.

You have your PURPOSE and your PLAN, now what? The first two steps are absolutely necessary ingredients in the formula but without this third step the PLAN will not work, it’s all about the execution of the POST. You must determine who you are talking to, what you will communicate, how you will say it, how much time you’ll allocate to each social network, establish if it is about you or them (I wisely recommend you realize it’s all about them), and then begin engagement. Creating relevant, interesting and engaging content that is keyword rich will bring you online visibility and generate profitability. The POST is the secret in the Success Formula.

What’s the ‘Google Plus’ buzz all about?

If you haven’t heard about the newest and hottest social network launched by Google, you most likely don’t use social media. Google+ was developed to rival Facebook and Twitter. It’s currently in field-testing mode which means you need to receive an invite and must be over 18 to be able to gain access plus you will need a Gmail account to login.

The most asked question is should you jump on the Google+ bandwagon?
If you like to be an early adapter and have plenty of spare time to play, by all means do so. But if you are looking for a social network that you can use for business with the intent to make money on, then I recommend not at this time. You need to decide if the time spent playing in a new site is worth it to you or if the investment of your time is more valuable spent focusing on income producing activity for your business. 

Yes, I believe Google+ could be a game changer and I have set up my account to test it out, but despite its impressive growth (latest estimate shows Google+ at 18 million users); right now it does nothing too drastically different than Facebook. It offers excitement with the newness and a few enhanced features but it doesn’t allow businesses to set up brand pages at this time, and at the end of the day the cycle of posting a status update, commenting on friends posts and sharing links is the same on both.

What ever you decide, check out ‘Google+: The Complete Guide’ for more information. If you would like a Google+ invite, email me at clm@wcninteractive.com with ‘Google+ Invite Please’ in the subject line.

Make it a great social day!

What Do You Expect?

Ah, there is nothing more invigorating than the beginning of a new year, it always signals a time for new opportunities. Today, more than ever, the biggest opportunity for any business to take advantage of is the Internet; believe it or not, it is still in its infancy, especially social networks! You may be on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn or other social media platforms, but are you working these platforms to expand your business? Is your audience, the prospects you would like to do business with, on the same networks as you? If you continue to do what you’ve been doing on social media are you expecting something different to happen? Don’t be too alarmed, you are in the norm; a good number of businesses do not understand what it is they are supposed to be doing, they set up their social network sites, they post, they follow, but they lose interest because of the time it takes to manage their social media platforms. Well, if you expect great things to happen in 2011 it’s time to change your expectations of social media and get out of the mix of the norm; it’s time to put your social media plan together and work the plan for your success in 2011!