You want to have specific objectives when using social media. Knowing your objectives helps you create the most effective strategies in your social media marketing.
Objectives Using Social Media May Be:
- Find new clients
- Promote your business
- Increase website traffic
- Grow your professional network
- Find a job
Once you’ve determined your objections, you can reach out and connect with others that may be able to help you reach those objectives.
Who Should You Send Connection Requests to?
- People you work with now and those you’ve worked with in the past
- Partners
- Clients
- Association members
- Networking contacts
- Classmates, friends and family
Another way to reach your objectives is to join groups in your social media networks and participate in discussions.
What Groups Should I Join?
You are allowed to join up to 50 groups on LinkedIn. You could join local groups, industry groups, and professional association groups. To minimize the number of emails you get from LinkedIn, turn off daily notifications. If you are a member of many groups, you may even turn off the weekly notifications. Instead plan some time to go to LinkedIn weekly and review your group discussions. Participate in the group discussions most relevant to your objectives.
On Google+ you may join Communities within your industry. Your goal is to add value to these communities and connect with people who can help you reach your social media objectives. Facebook also has groups you can join.
Be sure that what you share, including messages and status updates, is in line with your specific social media objective.