Social media websites like Facebook and Twitter have evolved significantly since they began. What started as a fun way to connect with friends has become an incredible marketing opportunity for businesses of all sizes. Today’s businesses can connect with their customers—as well as other companies—through social media, making it easier than ever to answer questions and publish advertisements. If your company is new to social media, check out some of the people you should follow or like:
Social media allows you to interact with other companies and organizations. When you create your accounts, look up websites for other companies that are involved in your industry and then follow the links to their social media pages. These accounts can provide valuable information that you can retweet to your own followers, which will help you build a more trustworthy presence and provide you with content to share even when you don’t have any new content on your website. Your company might also be able to learn new strategies and pick up insights by following other businesses and associations that relate to your industry.
Local Businesses
Industry-related businesses are not the only ones you should follow on social media—you can also follow companies that are located nearby. It can be a good idea to follow companies that are in your city or state and that are active on social media, regardless of what types of products and services they offer and how relevant they are to your own. The more you interact with other businesses in the area, the stronger sense of community you help build. This type of relationship can help you and the businesses you follow promote one another and know how to contact one another if you ever want to plan or participate in community events.
Your Customers
Today’s consumers turn to social media when they want to connect with businesses, ask questions, and learn about products and services they might be interested in purchasing. That’s why it’s important for businesses to maintain active social media accounts and respond to comments as quickly as possible. It can also be a good idea to follow some of your customers on social media, though you shouldn’t feel obligated to follow back every account that follows you. When you follow a customer on social media, they’re likely to appreciate it and feel like your company cares about them. When you automatically follow back anyone who follows you, however, it can make the process feel much less special and much more robotic. You can follow back when you first create your account, but as you grow, develop a plan that will help you follow a few customers, such as those that interact with you regularly. You may also want to follow customers that have questions, as some social media platforms only allow you to send direct messages to people whom you follow and who follow you.
Fun Accounts
While social media should play a role in your online marketing strategy, it can also be the source of fun and laughter! There are many social media accounts that tell jokes, share funny stories, and post cool pictures. Following these accounts is a great way to add a little entertainment to your timeline. You can also find companies, both inside and outside of your industry, that take a lighter and funnier approach to social media. When you follow these types of accounts, you can be sure that whoever oversees your social media strategy will be entertained. These accounts also provide a lot of great content that you can share with your own fans and followers for special events or if you just want to brighten their days.
Who We Follow
It is easier to get started on social media when you have some examples to look at. Pennington Creative uses social media to connect with customers, talk to other businesses, and stay on top of the latest trends in SEO and content marketing. Check out some of our strategies for deciding who to follow on various social media platforms:
- Facebook: This social media platform offers different profile options for individuals and businesses. When you create a business page, you’ll have to appoint at least one employee to admin this page, and that employee will use his or her personal account to access the business account. You can appoint multiple admins for this page, but they will each need their own personal Facebook page in order to access and run the business account. As a business page, you will not be able to send friend requests to personal accounts, but you will be able to Like other business pages. Our Likes include a variety of local businesses, such as Bookmans Entertainment Exchange and Anchor Wave Internet Solutions, as well as tech-related accounts, like GeekWire and SmartThings.
- Twitter: Unlike Facebook business pages that don’t have their own timelines, Twitter business accounts will have a timeline of Tweets from the accounts that they follow. You can use this social media platform to follow accounts that provide information you find relevant and want to share with your followers. That is why we follow numerous content marketing and SEO-related accounts, such as Neil Patel and Social Media Today. We also follow business-related accounts, like Forbes and Business 2 Community, as well as local accounts, such as Fox Tucson Theatre and Barrio Brewing.
Your business or agency can learn more about the benefits of social media marketing with help from Pennington Creative. We can work with you to create a social media strategy either for yourself or for your clients. Visit our website for a closer look at our social media and online marketing services.
