Social Media

What is Social Media?

Many people are confused by social media – it's quite simple if you wind the clock back a few years.

In the days before the internet people would share information by talking to one another (shock).

Business people would naturally share information and recommend other businesses. This way of doing business has gone on for hundreds of years but recently has been referred to as "networking".

Nothing has changed to the process apart from the vehicle used to network which has now predominantly become the internet.

There's nothing wrong with networking – it still works perfectly but you have to be eyeball to eyeball with a person for it to work which can be a limiting factor. You are also relying on the fact that the person you are talking to is interested in what you have to offer which isn't always the case.

Social media allows your business to interact with people who are interested in what you do. Only people who are interested in you will follow you on social media but it means that potentially you can network with thousands of interested customers and prospects. That beats trying to talk eyeball to eyeball with someone who isn't really interested in what you have to say.

Social media works on the principle that although you know your friends you won't know all your friends' friends. This means that one well-crafted message from your business can reach potentially thousands of people.

How will Social Media help me in search engines?

You might not have thought about it in these terms but Google actually competes with Facebook. This is the reason why Google introduced Google+ .

It's strongly felt that Google is looking at the "social signal" that businesses give out as a way of ranking websites in search engine results.

Have a look at the social signal bands below and decide which band your business belongs to. Unless you are in the high social signal band you need to be talking to DBS Internet Marketing:

• ZERO SOCIAL SIGNAL

  If your business has no social media accounts set up it will have a zero social media signal.

• WEAK SOCIAL SIGNAL

  If your business has social media accounts set up but doesn't share content frequently it will have a weak social media signal.

• MEDIUM SOCIAL SIGNAL

  A business that frequently shares unique and relevant content that has been added to its website through social media channels with a few followers will have a medium social media signal.

• HIGH SOCIAL SIGNAL

  A business that frequently shares unique and relevant content that has been added to its website through social media channels with a many followers will have a high social media signal and therefore should rank higher in search engines.

How can DBS improve my Social Media presence?

DBS Internet Marketing offers the complete social media package where we do all the work but you stay in charge.

We can set up the following social media accounts for you:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Google+
• Google +1
• YouTube

DBS Internet Marketing will make sure your website visitors can connect with you on these channels by adding "connect" links on your website

DBS Internet Marketing will "grow" your social media followers

DBS Internet Marketing will work with you to make sure your business publishes rich, quality content on your website.

DBS Internet Marketing will then broadcast your newly-published content via these social media channels.

4 Immediate Benefits of Social Media

1. Social media will drive customers and prospects who are interested in what you do back to your website - more traffic means more business.
2. A "High Social Signal" will increase search engine rankings which means more traffic and more business.
3. Social media will allow your business to keep in touch easily with people who are interested in what you do. This will increase and reinforce brand awareness no matter what size your business is.
4. Having unique and rich content on your website will likely attract inbound links which will increase search engine rankings which means more traffic and more business.

4 Mistakes Business Make With Social Media

1. Delegate the job of social media internally and expose your company to that person's social life and photos
2. Delegate the job of social media internally to a person who sends out the wrong message to customers and prospects that aren't in line with your company's values
3. Post messages on social media channels that don't link to unique rich content on you website and will lose followers eg "I am at a conference – it's great"
4. Post messages that just talk instead of showing that you have listened. By listening you can join the existing conversations of your target audience

Please contact us for a free, no obligation discussion of your needs.