Are You Using Social Networking to Promote Your Business?

The explosion of social networking over the last few years has given every business an opportunity to promote products and send visitors to websites to view products. By promoting your product or business what are you trying to achieve?

As an internet marketer I use social networks to promote my websites and the products that I am selling or affiliated to.  And I am having success by using some methods which are essentially free. By free I mean they are not costing to advertise by pay per click.

Which social networking sites are the best to use?

The answer to this question is not as straightforward as we may think, and perhaps you need to understand more about the site and the users before we understand this.

First of all the sites which you could use are:

Twitter – Launched 2006

Linked In – Launched 2003

Facebook – Launched 2004

Bebo – Launched 2005

MySpace – Launched 2003

MySpace was the first site to start networking socially on the internet and was the largest member site until 2009. In early 2011 it is reported that MySpace has some 63milion unique members. The demographic of the site is young people up to 24 years old.

Facebook the second site to launch into the social networking arena is by far the largest and most popular site in the world, and has over taken its competitors. In 2009 more than 250million users had accounts and it is still growing.  Facebook is used by a wide range of people of all ages and demographics.

Bebo was the third site to launch into the social networking foray and by 2008 had 30million members. The site has undergone a number of changes not only in content but also owners, and is very much a niche area of social networking sites in my opinion.

Linked In is the first site for networking online for professionals. It boasts 120million users and growing. Used by professionals to keep in touch with customers, old colleagues and suppliers.

Twitter is unique in comparison to the other sites we have discussed as your tweets (posts) can be viewed by all, and you can follow anyone you like without permission. The number of members is at 56milion in 2011 and still growing. Used by a wide variety of people including celebrities and orgnisations.

How to use social networking sites to promote your business.

It may sound obvious but when you use social networking make sure it is relevant to your audience and targeted correctly.

For instance it may not be the best use of resource if you promote the next big PC game on Linked In. It would be a better use of your effort if this was promoted through Facebook or Bebo to the friends in your list who you know are into gaming.

Of course if you are reviewing a product or promoting that product it is an absolute must that you understand the product features and benefits fully before commenting. To be deemed an expert when reviewing the product it is a must that you own the product and have used it. If your readers or visitors buy the product because you have reviewed it and they relate to your recommendation when they have used it, this will build trust and the customer is more likely to buy again.

With the correct relevant audience through social networking you can build a trust and relationship with your customers which will promote your business and loyalty for those repeat purchases.

Whatever your product or business that you promote through Social Networking make sure that this is not the only way that you promote your products or business.  To be successful you must use the other proven methods to increase your sales and business, such as article writing or pay per click advertising.

Take a look at other ways you can pomote your business PJW Enterprise