AlignGo Answers Some Difficult Social Media Questions

More businesses are exploring the advantage of using social media tools and sites to help grow their business.  Many of these efforts aren't effective, that may be due to many businesses simply misunderstanding what social media is also why it's so important!

First, what exactly is social media? Asking 10 people might get you 10 different answers, but to keep it simple, lets say that social media is a group of tools that let you create and share content online. Blogs, social networks, and video's are the common forms of social media that most of us are at least somewhat familiar with.

The problem that many businesses have, is how they view social media.  Many businesses (of all sizes) see social media sites as new channels to publish content into. In other words, they view social media as being marketing channels.

In reality this couldn't be further from the truth.

Notice in the above definition of social media, We said that these sites and tools are ways to create and share content. Why use the word 'share' instead of 'publish' or 'distribute'

Because sharing implies interaction. Publishing and distributing implies one-way channels. Social media is rooted in sharing content. It can be content you have created, it can be content that someone else has created, but as a whole, social media sites and tools are so popular because of how people are sharing and interacting with content.

So then the question becomes, how can businesses use social media effectively?

By creating more value for the people that interact with your content, than you receive back from them.

So your focus changes from 'what can I get from social media', to 'how can I use these tools to give value to others?'. It sounds completely counterintuitive, I know. But remember again that social media is rooted in sharing. In order to start sharing, you have to create content that others can FIRST find value in. That prompts them to want to share that content with other people.

Hint: That content isn't advertising. For example, we won't find much value in a blog post telling us about the sales your nursery is having on lawncare products this week. But if you post 'Ten Ways to Have a Gorgeous Lawn by the Fourth of July!' on your blog, THAT is content that we can find value in. Since we would likely find value in your second post, that makes it far more likely that we will share that post with other people, which helps promote your lawncare business.

You create value for us with the 'Ten Ways' blog post, which prompts us to promote your post (and by extension, your business), and that creates value for you.

If you want to use social media to grow your business, always remember that your goal is to use these tools and sites to create more value than you receive. Think sharing instead of publishing. Think communication instead of marketing.

The more value you can create for others with social media, the more value you will receive back as a result. But it all starts with creating and sharing value, not extracting.