Whether you like it or not, social media continues to grow.  Rapidly.  According to a Nielsen report, almost 23% of all online internet time is spent on social media and nearly all of today’s newspapers and magazines refer to their Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr accounts for up-to-the-minute news and announcements.  Instead of fighting off social media, it should be embraced and implemented with a targeted strategy to help you reach your niche audience and expand to many, many others.

Before jumping into the waters of Social Media, a few things should be considered to optimize efforts and leverage the fast growing communities:

1. Choose a Goal
Indentify an area of expertise and something you plan to accomplish.  Social Media provides good support for:

–          Brand/Cause awareness

–          Connecting with new supporters and customers

–          Supporting your brand and identity

–          Transparency

Once a goal is set, stick with it!  That objective and area of expertise will be the means of communication that will drive and navigate you or your business.

2. Listen to conversations
Before engaging in the conversations that are already taking place, it’s important to listen first before chiming in.  Social media is a two way channel and revolves around the simple interpersonal communication idea of “listen before you speak.”  The old adage of “if you don’t have anything nice to say, then say nothing at all” does not apply in the social media world. If negative things are being said about you or your brand, you should probably listen (monitor) to what others are saying before playing defense. Do your research, listen to the conversation and get an idea of the whole rather than just a slice.

3. Learn
You’re certainly not the first to use social media as the forefront of your identity, and you won’t be the last.  Unsure about where to start after you’ve been listening in on some conversations?  Follow other people and brands that pertain to your area of expertise.  How are they handling negative criticism?  How do they respond and interact with supporters?  Twitter is the ideal platform for customer service and interacting, as it allows you to track ENTIRE conversations and increase brand presence.

4. Engage
After listening to what’s already being said, the next plan of action calls to engage users and establish a starting point to serve as the foundation of your social media presence.  For beginners, Facebook and Twitter are both excellent places to start and here’s why:

–          Facebook

• 2^nd largest site in the world
• 500 million total users and growing
• 250 million DAILY active users
• Responsible for 25% of all internet traffic
• 700,000 new user accounts per day

–          Twitter

• 11^th largest site in the world
• 190 million total users and growing
• 1,000 tweets per second/65 million per day
• 300,000 new user accounts per day
• Twitter users spend 64% more time shopping online than other users
• 23% of Twitter users follow businesses for deals/promotions

5. Evolve
After a goal has been set and you’ve started to engage with other users and their conversations, continue to listen.  Social media is an ongoing conversation that thrives off of relationships much as our everyday lives do.  Relationships are ever evolving and require maintenance and upkeep.  Social media is no different.  Listen to what’s being said and study interactions in order to improve transparency for you or your brand.  Simply put, Evolve to the communication and techniques going on around you.

Domus Digital is an integrated digital and traditional marketing communications agency that delivers unconventional thinking and out-of-the-box strategies that help our clients sustain growth and demand brand awareness.  For more information, please visit us at http://www.domusdigital.com.