Social media has done wonders for businesses of all types. Most people are very comfortable with it. However, the older generation is often reluctant to get involved. If older business people used social media, they would love it.
The big challenge is getting older people to spend the time and effort in social media that is required to really make a difference to their business. Before any work at all is done, you need to understand what a powerful tool is at your disposal.
Older business people may feel that they are more comfortable relying on traditional marketing. If it worked okay in the past, why mess with it now? Many business people who are involved with social media for their business know that although traditional marketing is a worthwhile form of marketing, social media marketing (working alongside traditional marketing) will bring even greater success to their businesses.
There are several different benefits to social media for business, including:
- Cost-effective: It most likely won’t cost you a lot of money to market using social media. Of course, you will be making an investment of time and effort. It is very important to understand that consistency and persistence are extremely important when it comes to sharing content with your online business connections and it is also critical that you understand that as a business owner, you must be committed to working online dia for your business on a very regular basis.People who are not so familiar with social media should start with LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter (and perhaps, Google+). Once he or she has become more comfortable with using those channels, others can be explored. Those channels don’t have a joining fee associated with them. However, it is recommended that the profile for the respective channels should be completed entirely. The reason for that is to allow other people online to get to know the person whose profile they are viewing. Hopefully, it will eventually lead to the establishment of a relationship that will go far into the future.
- You can measure your results: There are several effective social media analytics tools available that are also free of charge. Google Analytics is one example. You can track the number of fans (on Facebook), followers (on Twitter), shares, website visitors, and “likes” (on Facebook). You will see a direct correlation between those aspects of social media and the increased success of your business. Another good thing to do is keep a close watch online on the keywords that are connected with a particular business or brand. What you will want to pay attention to is every time the brand is mentioned (by anyone). This will convince you that social media holds a great deal of value and is an extremely useful marketing tool.
- You need to jump on the bandwagon: Because so many people have started to use social media for their businesses, it is important that you (no matter what your age and level of experience) join in as well. Having an online presence for your business is critical to the success of your business, whether you realize it or not. If you aren’t engaging, you are missing out on a large opportunity to bring your business to the next level. On the other side, your business may not be looked upon favorably if you don’t join in since everyone else is using it and interacting. Your competitors (whether they are younger or older) are using social media and if you want to stay in the race, you need to use it also.
- Your results will increase over time: If you have been in business for a long time, you may not fully understand the power that social media holds when it comes to your business. This is a different world than it was many years ago and the way in which people communicate now is different. They are used to communicating online, where everything is easy, far-reaching and thought-provoking. In the days gone by, your professional network was as extensive as you could grow it. Nowadays, there is no limit to how large and extensive your network can become.
Conclusion
As an older business person, if you are not used to conducting business using online tools, it doesn’t mean that you won’t find it useful if you do get involved. You have nothing to lose by trying. You shouldn’t let the fact that you don’t understand it yet get in the way of applying it to your business. There is no reason why you can’t learn to work social media efficiently and have fun with it at the same time. In most cases, social media is very easy to learn and use and you may very well get a great deal out of it personally as well as reaping the many benefits for your business.
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