Lisa M Cope

While you may have heard about the importance of social media how do you actually go around improving your influence in this area? There are some very simple things you can do to improve your area of influence as we will demonstrate in this article.

The first step is very basic and that is to actually start using your social media sites on a regular basis. This can be done by posting content daily to your accounts. If finding the time to post is an issue then you can schedule your content for posting using sites like Hootsuite, or you could hire a virtual assistant to do this for you.

The type of content you can share includes news items, special offers, and related content to your industry, and of course lots and lots of images.

Post content that is informative and fun and don’t always post about your own products or services. Get into the habit of sharing news items that you like. If you start doing this people will begin to recognize your name and this helps you build authority online.

You may also be trying to get on someone’s radar and you can do this by using your social media accounts. For example maybe you run a health related site and you want to get mentioned by a top fitness trainer. This is what you would do to get their attention.

1. Start commenting on their sites including leaving helpful comments on their blog.
2. Reference this person when you share their content on your social sites.
3. Incorporate Google+ Authorship so people can discover who you are and who you know.

Other ways to increase your social media influence is by publishing a book. Self publishing is huge right now and is the perfect way to get yourself and your company into the spotlight. Becoming a published author can quickly help brand you as an expert and can also be a huge influence in your local area. Wouldn’t you love to tell your customers that you have just published a book? Their reactions may just surprise you.

So while using social media accounts may seem like a hassle to you, it is time to start incorporating them into your business. Just view it as a marketing method and a way to brand your company. Sites like Facebook could easily become your daily newsletter to your target audience where you share happenings in your industry and let your customers know about upcoming special offers.

When you sit down and think about the purpose of social media it boils down to being a mixture of sites that allow you to find information on practically any topic. Social media is used as a major research site by a growing number of users. After all social media influences the good and the bad, so it makes sense that when information is being shared regularly that the content is good.

One of the top niches that is often researched via social media sites is information about being healthy. This includes losing weight, exercising and learning how to improve your diet and living a healthy lifestyle.

There are two angles to this and one is from a consumer’s point of view and the other from a business owner’s point of view. Consumers can easily stay on top of all the new developments in the health and fitness world by following or liking the top pages and sites on the various social media sites.

For a business using these sites allows you to track what your competitors are doing. They can potentially help you stay informed on new developments and new products which are in the pipeline.

It is so much easier for someone to log into their Facebook account and see the news feed from various health related pages. This is so much faster than doing an internet search to stay on top of everything.
For anyone trying to lose weight or stay motivated with their exercise program it can be motivating to read stories from other people. You can easily create yourself an online community where you can ask for advice and help from other people with the same interests as you.

Using social media sites to improve your health can allow you to share recipes, exercises and all the ups and downs of getting healthy while living your life. Everyone struggles with raising a family or going to school or work while attempting to make changes in their lives. Knowing you are not alone can really boost your moral.

On the other hand sometimes using social media sites can be an eye opener. When you do read stories and newsfeeds from others you can be grateful that you are not going through what they are. Instead you can use these stories for your own inspiration and motivation and really stay on track with your health goals.

Today online users spend approximately 27% of their time on social media sites. The number of people who have a Facebook account is set at 85% of all online users and 49% of people have an active Twitter account. Social Media is responsible for doubling the number of marketing leads when compared to traditional methods such as trade shows, direct mail and telemarketing.

How does this affect you as a marketer? Well people love to share and they enjoy sharing information about the things they have purchased and used. Who doesn’t go around telling their friends to go see a great movie? This concept now applies to anyone who is selling products or services both online and offline.
Amazon has a huge influence on what products people buy by allowing their customers to leave reviews and feedback on their purchases. The majority of people will read through these comments and allow it to influence their buying decision.

This same principle applies to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. When people are sharing, liking and tweeting about great products manufacturers will enjoy a jump in sales. The reverse is true if a product gets a bad review sales will slump. So which end of the spectrum do you want to be on?

It is important for anyone selling products or offering a service today to have social media accounts. This way you can allow customers to post and share feedback and comments about your products. By offering high quality products and providing great customer service via social media you can easily brand your products and your company online.

Take a look at Twitter and see how active it becomes when people start retweeting about events that are making news. While your products may not have such a huge impact, Twitter users can help spread the news about what you are selling and your customer’s experiences.

If you haven’t given much thought to using sites like Facebook and Twitter you really should start incorporating them into your marketing efforts. After all they are free to use and once set up you can hire an assistant to manage them for you if you don’t have the time yourself.

Remember that people today love to do research online for almost anything they plan on buying or using. If your company shows up in the search results you will see an increase in new customers.