Why it's important to engage in social media

We've heard this many times, social media is the future. Anyone who is anyone is on Facebook and companies must learn to integrate this in their marketing and advertising practices in order to increase brand promotion and to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Being on social media won't make or break your business; however, it will increase brand awareness and customer loyalty... if you do it right.

The question is, do you keep your public relations and marketing efforts in store or do you outsource? Some original ideas is always good thing, but no one knows your company more than your own employees. By staying in-house for marketing and public relations, your customers will relate to your company and your brand. You're allowing your company to differentiate from your competitors.

That being said, social media is a great tool to engage with your customers but the effort must be consistent, it's only a small part of your marketing plan but it's a big part in the public's perception of your company.

What do you want your customers to know about your company? Engagement is key and in order to engage with your customers, you must be able to relate to them. How do you do that? Well, organizations have people working for them to make them successful, and as people, we all go through the same things. We have flat tires, headaches, and accomplishments among other things. Relate that to your audience, but in a way that would benefit your company and inform your followers and in a way that will increase brand awareness.

The idea is to have your followers talking, but not always the same one. Your reach must be to various markets within your social media circle. Find out who they are, what they like and don't like, and then post creative content in order to be more relatable. The last thing people want is to talk to a robot, your posts should reflect that there is an actual person typing, without getting too personal.

Here I go... to the drawing board!