Social media brings with it a revolution in marketing. For the first time, you have the tools to engage in real conversations with your customers and potential customers. It’s a powerful way to transform your business based on the strength of your business relationships.

• Before You Start: You are considering using social media for business, or you currently use social media for business.
• Learning Level: 1 | Social Media Basics
• Article last updated: Monday, August 22, 2011

Adding More Engagement

No one can tell you what percentage of your communication should be engaging your community or promoting your business. Certainly, you use social media to build your business, and there is nothing wrong with using social media to talk directly about your business. The key is to find a balance between broadcasting and engaging that really works for your business and your community.

Here are some suggestions for small changes you can make to increase your social media engagement.

• Talk About Related Topics. Find topics related to your business that you think will interest your community. For example, a travel agency might promote articles about travel destinations because they know their community loves to learn about other places.
• Promote Others. Do you know a business in a related industry that is doing a great job? Talk about them and their business success. Help them promote their events and services. Your community will be interested, and the other business may start to promote your business as well.
• Promote Your Customers. Do you have a customer who just published a book? Or has a blog? Or runs a successful business? Talk about their success, with their permission, of course. This isn’t about name dropping, but about real promotion for someone else.
• Find A New Conversation. Set aside 5 minutes each day to review the communication within your community. Find conversations going on that interest you and jump in.
• Expand Your Community. Use your existing community members to find who else they are connect with through social media. Take a few minutes each week to expand your community by adding new and interesting people.

It takes a little effort to reach out of your habits and comfort zone to engage your social media community. But the rewards of building your business relationships are much greater than the effort you invest.

Your turn: How are you finding the balance between broadcasting and engaging your community? What have you tried that really gave you good results? Share your tips and insights with the community.

Related Articles:

• Social Media Press Releases
• Create A Blog Comment Policy
• 9 Ways To Engage Your Twitter Community
• A Facebook Page Means Business
• Social Media Communications Audit
• Twitter Conversation Checklist
• The Value Of Your Experience
• Talk About Your Business (Part 1)
• Talk About Your Business (Part 2)